London: While Cairo is the world’s most dangerous megacity for women and London is the best, a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters Foundation also found that New Delhi in India, Karachi in Pakistan and Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of the Congo are equally vulnurable for women.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation survey asked experts in women’s issues in 19 megacities having a population of more than 10 million people how well women are protected from sexual violence, from harmful cultural practices, and if they have access to good health care, finance and education.
Delhi with Sao Paulo also emerged as the worst cities when respondents were asked if women could live there without the risk of sexual violence, including rape, attacks or harassment, according to Reuters.
The fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi bus in 2012 led to a wave of public protests and jolted many in the world’s second most populous country out of apathy over the treatment of women, forcing the government to toughen penalties for sex crimes.
Since then a spike in media reports, government campaigns and civil society programs, have increased public awareness of women’s rights and emboldened victims to register abuses.
Authorities recorded four rapes every hour in India in 2015.
“Even after the Delhi gang rape, we are seeing rising cases of sexual violence. All the measures taken so far are welcome, but they are not enough,” said lawyer Rishi Kant from Shakti Vahini, a charity that supports rape victims.
“These rapists act because they know they won’t get caught. So strengthening the police and courts to effectively investigate, prosecute, convict and punish is key.”
In Sao Paulo, women are increasingly using social media to denounce sexual violence, including writer Clara Averbuck, who launched an online campaign in August after she was sexually assaulted by a taxi driver.
A poll conducted by Datafolha for the Brazilian Forum of Public Security this year found one in three Brazilian women aged 16 or over had suffered physical, verbal or psychological violence in the previous year but 52 percent did not report it.
“I’ve never been so violated as in Brazil,” Averbuck told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “I’m not speaking only about physical rape. In London, in New York, I feel very comfortable because they treat me like a human being. Here they treat you less than a human being.”
Lima in Peru came out worst when participants were asked if women had good access to health care, including control over reproductive health. Abortion is illegal in Peru except to save the life of the mother and the teenage pregnancy rate is high.
Conflict-ridden Kinshasa, where growing violence has sparked fears of a repeat of civil wars two decades ago in which millions died, was the worst city in terms of female access to education, ownership of land and obtaining financial services.
At the other end of the scale, London was named the best city, buoyed by Britain’s free and universal National Health Service, as well as coming top for economic opportunities.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said women were now leading at every level of society in London — in public service, the arts, politics, science and business — but there was more to do.
“The progress we’re making as a city is not happening fast enough,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We must redouble our efforts to remove any barriers to women’s success and to unlock their full potential.”
Tokyo was ranked as the safest city in terms of sexual violence and harassment, though some women’s rights campaigners said sexual violence remained a hidden problem.
Moscow outperformed New York on a range of measures, and was named the most female-friendly city judged solely on cultural practice, perhaps a nod to its avowedly egalitarian Soviet past, the survey said.
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