India Ranked 'the Most Dangerous Country in the World' for Women, U.S. Breaks Top 10

A 2018 survey of 548 women’s issues experts (aid professionals, academics, healthcare staff, non-government workers, policy-makers, development specialists, social commentators, etc.) conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation found India to be the most dangerous country in the world for women.

Afghanistan and Syria followed in second and third, respectively—and the only Western nation to break the top 10 is where I’m presently seated: the United States of America. The U.S. ranked “joint third” with Syria when participants were asked where women are most at risk for sexual harassment, violence and coercion, which Reuters attributes to the #MeToo movement—more American women are coming forward with their stories of abuse. (According to a 2012 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18.5% of American women over the age of 18, that’s almost 1 in 5, have reported “experiencing rape at some time in their lives.”)

The Reuters Foundation poll focused on six key areas: healthcare, discrimination, cultural traditions, sexual violence, non-sexual violence and human trafficking. India topped half of the categories: “the risk of sexual violence and harassment against women, the danger women face from cultural, tribal and traditional practices, and the country where women are most in danger of human trafficking including forced labour, sex slavery and domestic servitude.” According to government data that partnered the survey, crime against women, both sexual and not, rose an astronomical 83 percent between 2007 and 2016 in India.

Manjunath Gangadhara, an official at the Karnataka state government, told Reuters, “India has shown utter disregard and disrespect for women… ape, marital rapes, sexual assault and harassment, female infanticide has gone unabated. The (world’s) fastest growing economy and leader in space and technology is shamed for violence committed against women.”

The top ten most dangerous countries in the world for women, 2018: