(a) & (b): National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes information on crimes in its publication “Crime in India” which is available on the website of NCRB (https://ncrb.gov.in), which also provides for State / UT wise data of crimes against women and children. The published reports are available till the year 2020. As per information reported by NCRB, the number of cases registered under crime against women during 2018, 2019 and 2020 are 378236, 405326 and 371503, respectively and the number of cases registered under crime against children during these years are 141764, 148090 and 128531, respectively. This data shows a decline in number of registered cases for crime against women and children in 2020 over the the years 2018 and 2019.
(c) & (d) : ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens rest with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offenses under the extant provisions of laws. The Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issues advisories from time to time on steps to be taken for effective steps to curb the crimes against women and children and for raising public awareness.
Further, there has been enactment of various legislation such as the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 etc. by the Indian Parliament which addresses the issue of crime against women and children. The review of legislation / policies / programs is a continuous process and based on the recommendations/ suggestions/ learning outcomes, the Government takes appropriate measure to amend the laws / policies / programs from time to time.
In addition, Government of India has introduced various schemes and projects including One Stop Centres (OSCs) for violence affected women and girls including dowry harassment, Women Helplines (WHL) running on toll-free telephonic short code 181, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), Swadhar Grehs for women facing difficult circumstances or destitution, Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) which is a pan-India single number (112)/ mobile app based system for emergency response, safe city projects in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai), training and skill development programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers, setting up/ strengthening of Women Help Desks (WHDs) at Police Stations, Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), 24x7 Childline - 1098 etc to ensure safety of women and children across the country.
The Ministry undertakes awareness exercise for safety and security of women and children from time to time. Further, the Government, through institutions like the National Commission for Women, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and their counterparts in States have been spreading awareness through seminars, workshops, audio-visual, print and electronic media etc. to sensitize the people about the safety and security of women and children and also about various provisions of the legislation etc.
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