Rape Cases in India: Correlation between Sex Ratio, Literacy Rate and Rape Cases registered - Part 3
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 15, 2015
We have analysed the number of rape cases registered from 2011 to 2013 in India and if things have changed post the Nirbhaya incident in the first two parts.
The numbers and the general trend of the number of rape cases registered roughly correlated with indicators such as sex ratio and literacy rate. When we dug deep into these indicators, we found some interesting trends. We considered Sex Ratio & the Literacy rate as per Census 2011, Rape cases registered in various states in 2013 for this analysis.
Sex Ratio in India is not a mere number but an indicator that speaks volumes about the Indian social setup. Sex ratio in India has always been lopsided with the count of men outnumbering that of women by a large margin. This can be attributed to a variety of reasons but the ones that stand out are the preference for a male child and a strong patriarchal society where the female is mostly considered a second rate citizen. Female infanticide and foeticide are rampant due to these two reasons. Lower Sex Ratio breeds and sets in motion a vicious self sustaining cycle comprising of disempowered women incapable of nurturing their next generations.
The causes that lead to a skewed sex ratio also contribute to its perpetuity in various forms, direct and indirect. Direct like sex selective abortions and indirect like creating an environment that is not conducive to the girl child. Such an environment also contributes to a setup for crimes to be inflicted upon women and it also makes it easy for the guilty to get away with.
Number of studies has suggested that a skewed sex ratio could amplify the assaults on women if not a major reason for the crimes in the first place. To test this argument we tried to find if there is any correlation between Sex ratio and Rape cases registered per lakh women across all the states in India. In some cases low sex ratio did correlate with higher number of cases registered.
Literacy Rate: Education equips us with the necessary knowledge and attitude to deal with problems that crop up in our lives. Lack of education leaves us at a natural disadvantage of not understanding our own surroundings. An educated person is more likely to stand up for his rights when they are denied because of the knowledge of systems. We assume that a higher literacy rate should correlate with higher reporting crimes and lower literacy rate with lower reporting of crimes.
Analysis
This article analyses the correlation between three different parameters, Sex Ratio, Literacy Rate and Rape cases registered per lakh women. National average for each of the parameters is used as a baseline to define ‘high’ and ‘low’ nature of the parameters
The national average Sex Ratio is 943. So States with a lower sex ratio than 943 are defined as states with ‘low sex ratio’ and similarly states with sex ratio higher than 943 have been defined as states with ‘high sex ratio’.
On the same lines, National average Literacy rate is 74.04% and states with literacy rate lower than this have been termed ‘low literacy’ states and vice versa. Literacy rate mentioned here is the overall literacy rate.
Number of rape cases registered per lakh women (RPL) in India is 5 in 2013. Hence states with RPL of more than 6 RPL have been termed as high RPL states and vice versa.
States and UT’s have been arranged in ascending order of Sex Ratio and grouped into two groups A and B. Group A states have a sex ratio lower than the national average and are hence the ‘Low Sex Ratio States’ and Group B states have a sex ratio higher than the national average and have therefore been referred to as the ‘High Sex Ratio States’.
What does the colour coding mean?
Group A: Our underlying assumption is that states with low sex ratio and high literacy rate tend to have a higher RPL and the states with a lower literacy rate tend to have lower RPL. The corresponding numbers of a state that followed this trend have been coloured green and others have been left uncoloured.
Group B: For States with high Sex Ratio, our assumption is that high sex ratio could translate to lower RPL. The corresponding numbers of a state that followed this trend have been coloured green and the ones that didn’t have been left uncoloured. Higher literacy rate correlating with high RPL also has been coloured green.
Analysis of Group A States (States with Sex Ratio lower than the National Average)
The chart below explains the findings clearly.
Analysis of Group B States (States with Sex Ratio higher than the National Average)
The chart below explains the findings clearly.
What does this mean?
All said and done, the extent and prevalence of impact can’t be quantified. At the same it cannot also be denied that Sex Ratio and Literacy Rate do play a role in the occurrence and reporting of Rape cases across India. It is also possible that States like Uttar Pradesh & Bihar seem to be under reporting rape cases.
Featured Image Source: Flickr/Ramesh Lalwani
In Part 4 in the series of analysis of Rape cases in India, we attempt to further analyse the much talked about under reporting of Women Crimes in India and if there is indeed any evidence of such under reporting using crime data.