New Delhi: Women workforce saw a significant decline by 26.5 percent in last two years in sectors which require night shifts and in the units located in the outskirts of major cities, according to a study.
Long hours of commuting are also a factor that works against employment generation of women, the Assocham study said.
Economic slowdown, combined with safety and security concerns, have led to squeezing employment opportunities for women in the last two years, requiring immediate intervention on ensuring their safety and pro-active role on behalf of the government and employers to improve the gender balance at the workplace,the study noted.
While the companies have taken measures within their own spheres and the related areas like pick up and drop, 48 per cent of the women surveyed said their security concerns have increased, rather than decreased, in the last two years.
The maximum concerns have been raised about Delhi-NCR followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow. The situation is little better in Southern cities but far from a satisfactory level, the study pointed out.
The survey comprised of 1,600 participants in the age group of 20 to 50 years. Participants were surveyed randomly from working women from different government and private sectors, both at the lower levels of junior functionaries, and professionals including MBAs, Chartered Accountants, Charted Financial Analysts (CFAs), Lawyers, and Journalists.
"Incidents of crimes against women have been on rise in India and the number of cases reported under crimes against women has increased remarkably from 1,43,795 in 2001 to 2,80,465 cases in 2014".
"Delhi despite being the national capital is facing women safety as one of the biggest challenge. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (2012) among 53 mega cities, Delhi accounted for 14.2% (5,194) of such crimes followed by Bengaluru 6.2% (2,263) and Kolkata 5.7% (2,073)".
"The number of cases registered for various crimes against women has increased from 3,938 in 2008 to 5,999 in 2012 registering an increase of nearly 50 per cent in a span of 4 years," Assocham said.
