Number Theory: How credible are official stats on sexual violence against women?

Official statistics show a wide divergence across states in crime against women

Even as the protests against the rape and murder of a woman doctor at R G Kar Hospital continue in Kolkata, the West Bengal government has passed a new law to control heinous crime against women. To be sure, this is not the first time a new law has been passed after widespread outrage following an incident of crime against a woman. How effective can such policies be? As was pointed out in these pages last week (https://tinyurl.com/5dvtjrkh) crime against women is the result of lack of resources within the criminal justice system in the country, but also state apathy and entrenched patriarchal norms.

Representative photo