Just a few months after the Supreme Court of India upheld its earlier court order awarding death sentence to four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case, New Delhi, which is already infamous as the 'rape capital' of the country, has now been named as the worst megacity in the world when it comes to sexual violence against women.
Delhi cabbie rapes woman after befriending her at railway station
New Delhi shared the least enviable position along with Brazil's Sao Paulo in a survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The results of the poll was announced on Monday.
India's capital city was named as the worst megacity in the world for sexual violence against women as they feel that they are at risk of getting raped, harassed and sexually attacked.
The survey was conducted in 19 of the world's biggest megacities (as ranked by the United Nations) between June and July 2017.
Experts not shocked
As many as 380 experts in cities with population of more than 10 million were asked to assess danger level on the basis of the risk of sexual violence and harmful cultural practises towards women. They were also asked to rank women's access to health care and economic opportunities.
Interestingly, Delhi— which is the world's second-most populous city with an estimated 26.5 million population— turning out to be worst megacity in the world in terms of sexual assault on women was not a shocking news to the experts
"I'm not surprised by the results as they're based on perceptions. India and Brazil have seen a lot of media attention on sexual violence in recent years," Rebecca Reichmann Tavares, head of UN Women in India who also worked in Brazil was quoted as saying by The Wire.
"Sexual violence in both these cities is, of course, a reality, but there isn't any definitive data to suggest that rates are higher in Delhi and Sao Paulo than any other city," she added
Delhi fourth dangerous city for women
India's capital came fourth in the category of the most dangerous megacity for women in the world overall.
In fact, it "outperformed" Dhaka which came seventh in the category of the most dangerous megacity for women.
Cairo was named as the most dangerous megacity for women in the world, followed by Karachi and Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital Kinshasa, which obtained the second position.
New Delhi also did not fare well in the category of women's access to economic resources, such as education, ownership of land or other forms of property, and financial services like bank accounts.
