The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes data on crimes, including crimes against women, in its publication “Crime in India”, which provides detailed State-wise and category-wise statistics is available on the NCRB’s official website (https://ncrb.gov.in).

The latest report of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), provides data for the period 2019-2021, which reveals that the percentage of ever-married women aged 18-49 years who have ever experienced spousal violence (physical and/ or sexual violence) has reduced to 29.3% as compared to 31.2% reported in NFHS-4 for the period 2015-2016.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005 has been enacted keeping in view the rights guaranteed under Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India to provide for a remedy under the civil law which is intended to protect the women from being victims of domestic violence and to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence in the society.

“Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation and prosecution in crimes against women and children rests with the respective State Governments and UT Administrations; they are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws.

Nevertheless, the Central Government gives highest priority to ensuring safety and security of women and has taken several legislative and policy interventions. Section 8 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005 mandates the States and UTs to appoint such number of Protection Officers in each district as it may consider necessary and also to notify the area(s) within which a Protection Officer shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred. It is the duty of the Protection Officer to report the cases of domestic violence to the Magistrate upon receipt of complaints and to assist the Magistrate in the discharge of his functions. The PWDVA provides to women remedies such as protection order, residence order, custody order, monetary relief and compensation order under it.

Under the umbrella scheme Mission Shakti, integrated services are provided for safety, protection and empowerment of women through its two verticals; Sambal and Samarthya. One Stop Centre (OSC) is a component of the Sambal vertical that provides integrated and immediate support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence and those in distress, both in private and public spaces all across the country. It provides services like medical aid, legal aid and advice, temporary shelter, police assistance and psycho-social counselling to needy women. As on date, 926 One Stop Centres have been made operational across the country. Till 31st December 2025, OSCs have assisted over 13.37 lakh women in the country.

Women Helpline (WHL-181) provides 24-hour toll-free telecommunication services to support women in both emergency and non-emergency situations. It offers assistance to women affected by violence and provides information about government schemes and services all across the country. Women Helpline is operational in 35 States and Union Territories and also integrated with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112). Till 28th February 2026, WHLs have assisted over 99.09 lakh women in the country.

Nari Adalat scheme provides a platform for alternative grievance redressal for women at the gram panchayat level. The Adalats are mandated to help women in distress at the panchayat level in resolving smaller issues relating to domestic violence and other gender-based violence by negotiation, mediation and reconciliation with mutual consent for accessible justice.

Under the Samarthya vertical of Mission Shakti, Shakti Sadan has been established as an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home for women in distress, including victims of trafficking and domestic violence. It has been formed by merging the earlier schemes of Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala. It aims at creating a safe and enabling environment for the women in difficult situations, to enable them to overcome the adverse circumstances. As on 23.03.2026, 416 Shakti Sadans are operational across the country.

In order to strengthen transparency and accessibility in service delivery with respect to reliefs and rehabilitation to women in distress, the Ministry of WCD launched Mission Shakti Portal (https://missionshakti.wcd.gov.in/) on 22.01.2025. The Mission Shakti Portal data is now accessible via the Mission Shakti Mobile Application with multi lingual feature thereby expanding outreach and convenience for users. The Portal provides a publicly accessible list of Protection Officers under the PWDVA. As on 23.03.2026, details of 2,428 Protection Officers have been updated by States and UTs.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri Thakur in Lok Sabha in reply to a question.

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