'Majority fear for those outside home after sunset'

Not for just women family members, almost every Delhiite is worried for their male members too if they are outside their home as the evening sets in.

Bengalurians too are a bit scared but they have a better sense of safety in their city compared to their Delhi and Chennai counterparts. Mumbaikars are least bothered as they feel more safe in their cities than others.

These are the results of a multi-city crime victimisation survey, which experts say is a useful tool to unearth the reasons for gaps in data and perceptions, published in the inaugural issue of 'NCRB Journal'.

The findings were part of a report 'Safety Trends and Reporting of Crime: A Household Survey of Four Major Indian Cities' conducted by Mumbai-based IDFC Institute's Avanti Durani and Neha Sinha.

According to the survey with a sample size of 20,597 (Delhi 6187, Mumbai 7910, Bengaluru 4067 and Chennai 2433), only 1% of Delhiites do not worry about a female member being outside home unaccompanied at any time after evening.

The scenario in Chennai and Bengaluru is a bit better as the percentage that does not worry is 8% each. In Mumbai, it is more better at 13%, which provides an insight about the perception of women safety.

As the night progresses, 87% of people in Delhi "start worrying" about an unaccompanied female family member if she is not in by 9 PM. In Bengaluru, it is 54% while in Chennai it is 48% and Mumbai 30%.

In men's case too, Delhiites are more worried as 99% of their family start thinking more about their safety post evening hours. But in Bengaluru, it is a little less at 87% followed by 88% Chennai. In Mumbai, only 80% are worried about men's safety.

"As high as 95% of people in Delhi start worrying about an unaccompanied male household member, who may be outside home, by 11 pm. The percentages were 83% in Bengaluru, 84% in Chennai and 60% in Mumbai. The numbers were lower for 9 pm for male members," the survey said.

The report also examined behavioural changes and found that due to poor perceptions of safety, people tend to adopt behavioural changes to keep themselves safe, such as not leaving the house past a certain time, which is "detrimental to both full and equal participation" in civic life or the workforce. "Adaptive behaviour suppresses crime numbers and is in fact a poor reflection of the safety and security in a city," it said.

About 51% of Delhiites and Bengalurians avoid walking alone. This percentage is higher in Chennai (60%) but lower in Mumbai (33%).

A large number of people also tend to keep personal belongings out of sight from others -- Delhi 47%, Mumbai 40%, Chennai 39% and Bengaluru 36%.

	Not Worried if WOMEN Outside Home after Evening Hours	Not Worried if MEN Outside Home after Evening Hours	Start Worrying if Women outside home unaccompanied after 9 PM	Start Worrying if Women outside home unaccompanied by 11 PM	Avoid Walking Alone	Keep personal belongings out of sight of others
Delhi	1%	1%	87%	95%	51%	47%
Mumbai	13%	20%	30%	60%	33%	40%
Bengaluru	8%	13%	54%	83%	51%	36%
Chennai	8%	12%	30%	84%	60%	39%

Source: Safety Trends and Reporting of Crime: A Household Survey in Four Major Indian Cities/NCRB Journal