Shift from ‘awareness to action’ is more necessary than ever – Firstpost

In 2025, India witnessed a concerning number of reported cases of sexual violence. Incidents of rape and domestic abuse, often linked to economic stress and hardship, drew widespread attention. The statistics underscore a pressing issue that demands collective action.

As news of these tragedies spread, there is an increasing sense of fear among women, who now find themselves navigating daily life with a heightened sense of caution—whether it’s choosing safe routes to work or simply avoiding certain hours to be out in public. The outrage on social media and the streets underscores a collective reckoning: sexual violence is not just a personal issue but a societal one that requires systemic change.

According to the World Health Organisation, globally, at least one out of three women encountered physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in India, crimes against women surged from 3.3 lakh in 2020 to 4.4 lakh in 2022. We also rank low on the Women’s Safety Index, placing 128th out of 177 countries in terms of women’s inclusion, justice, and security. These numbers reveal a frustrating fault line and raise critical questions on how we as a nation and society understand, report, and respond to violence against women.

As we approach International Women’s Day 2025, the theme—“Embracing Equity: Moving from Awareness to Action”—has never felt more pertinent. This year’s theme calls for a shift beyond mere recognition of gender inequality to tangible, systemic change. It emphasises that equity is not just about equal opportunities but about addressing the imbalances that increase discrimination and violence. This shift toward action is critical, especially in the context of sexual violence, where the systems of power and cultural norms continue to perpetuate harm.

Traditionally, we tend to view the problem in two ways: either as isolated incidents of sexual harassment and violence caused by “bad apples” or individuals with deviant behaviour, or as solely a criminal justice issue—addressed reactively, only after harm has already been done, rather than through preventive measures.

We need to do better. Instead of thinking in terms of perpetrators and post-assault procedures and responses, we need to shift the frame and recognise sexual harassment and violence as symptoms of larger systemic issues.

If we know that a forest fire is spreading, one solution is to teach every person how to protect themselves and their property from the flames. Another is to go straight to the source and put out the fire so fewer people need to worry about protecting themselves individually. We have been doing the former for a long time and haven’t seen much progress. Thinking about sexual assault as a public health problem expands the focus from going beyond one victim or perpetrator at a time to a systemic perspective that ensures collective action and lasting change.

So far, the account of sexual violence has been written primarily with a focus on women as victims and men as perpetrators. This narrow narrative not only alienates people from the conversation but also prevents many from stepping up as allies.

In my decade-long experience working at the intersection of research and communications, I have come across several studies on how sexual violence is often intertwined with domestic and physical violence, especially in India, creating a complex, blurred boundary. Physical abuse is so normalised that it frequently spills into sexual abuse, making it difficult to separate or report. According to a study by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), alcohol consumption by partners is a significant contributor to various forms of violence, further complicating the dynamics.

Collecting data on violence against women is difficult, as women face immense barriers in discussing such violence, often because the perpetrator is a family member, and speaking out often leads to stigmatisation or accusations of betraying their families. This becomes more entangled if one is to consider the convergence of entrenched cultural norms and economic dependency. Women are often conditioned by social norms to believe that abuse is normal and, in fact, their fault. This leaves them blind to available support systems and legal recourse.

Fortunately, government and civil society organisations have made progress in establishing support structures and forums where women can share their experiences and learn about their rights. These initiatives have helped foster awareness of what constitutes acceptable behaviour and enabled women to seek legal recourse. For instance, the Jagori Rural Charitable Trust in Himachal Pradesh and the Mahila Samakhya Program in states like Bihar and Karnataka empower women through awareness campaigns, workshops, and support collectives, creating safe spaces where survivors can share their experiences and seek counsel. There are also organisations like Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) that engage men and boys in Maharashtra to challenge toxic masculinity and traditional gender norms.

Peer-led initiatives like these and other adaptive solutions such as grassroots-level dialogues, flexible reporting systems, and trauma-informed spaces within organisations and communities can help bring about cultural shifts in attitudes toward consent, power, gender dynamics, and response. These solutions also focus on empowering the community for systemic prevention.

But to design effective solutions, we need reliable data. Sexual violence data in India, generally reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), is riddled with issues such as underreporting, lack of intersectional insights, and delays. Reports have historically been delayed by an average of 23 months, only improving to below 11 months post-2000.

Timely and accessible data can be a promising solution in helping us understand the nature of sexual violence, design responsive interventions, and use it for advocacy, prevention, and support. Communities play a critical role in making this happen by demanding transparency, participating in data collection efforts, and fostering a culture where survivors feel safer reporting incidents.

Take, for example, the Safecity initiative that allows individuals to anonymously report harassment incidents. The data, when aggregated, helps create a crowdsourced map of high-risk neighbourhoods across cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. This enables communities to push for tangible solutions, such as increased street lighting and local patrols.

There are also several examples from rural India, such as the Asha Jyoti Kendras (One-Stop Crisis Centres) in Uttar Pradesh, that provide critical support to survivors of sexual violence through integrated services such as medical aid, police assistance, and counselling. These centres collect data on cases they handle, which helps them adapt their services to local needs and team up with civil society partners for awareness programs.

Through data and community-led initiatives like these, we can push for hyper-local solutions that can respond to the nuanced realities of sexual violence across different contexts. Confronting sexual violence is more than a fight for change; it’s a commitment to reject the status quo and build a future rooted in dignity and respect.

Anubrata Basu is Assistant Vice President – Research and Communication at Sambodhi Research & Communications, a Social Impact Advisory. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.