Mapping women+ safety through visibility
Introduction
Delhi, like many global cities, presents a paradox for women+ navigating its public spaces: a landscape where visibility can feel both protective and precarious. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (2022), over 14,000 crimes against women were reported in Delhi alone. Yet statistics only scratch the surface of a deeper, more complex urban condition—where perceptions of safety, not just incidence, governs women+’s freedom of movement.
This research investigates the perception of safety among women+ in Delhi, arguing that safety cannot be understood solely through crime data or infrastructure. Instead, it must be explored as a subjective, situated, and collective experience. Grounded in empirical evidence—ranging from surveys and interviews to video diaries and social media interactions, the study listens closely to women+’s lived realities: the fear of walking alone at night, the comfort of a well-lit street, or the quiet panic of crowded public transport.
Spatial factors such as lighting, openness, people density and visibility emerge as recurring themes in shaping these perceptions. However, the research goes further to dissect the duality of visibility as both “projective” (being seen by others) and “introspective” (one’s own awareness of surroundings). This distinction becomes especially critical in understanding how women+ assess risk and safety not just reactively, but intuitively and contextually.
Through spatial mapping and qualitative assessment of key urban zones, the research highlights the limitations of existing safety audits, such as those by Safetipin, which, while rigorous, often fail to account for the emotional and communal dimensions of safety. In contrast, this study emphasizes how community presence and social legibility, what Jane Jacobs once described as “eyes on the street”, serve as intangible yet vital components of safety perceptions.
By centring women+’s voices, the study reclaims safety as a relational, embodied, and everyday urban right that is co-constructed, constantly negotiated, and deeply tied to the right to visibility, mobility, and community presence.
Research Question
Ultimately the research asks many questions, but the key research question is:
How can the evaluation of designed public spaces [through the lens of women+ safety perceptions] in Delhi, inform urban strategies that support their free and confident movement through the city?
This raises of series of sub-questions which are researched and answered in a sequence of 3 chapters.
Sub-Research Questions
- What urban characteristics most significantly influence women+ perceptions of safety in Delhi, and how do these factors impact their mobility and spatial agency?
- How can the tacit knowledge and everyday navigational choices of women+ in Delhi be surfaced and leveraged to restore their agency in urban mobility?
- What models of community-based navigation and support can enhance safety for women+ in Delhi, and how can such systems be designed to offer personalized, trust-based safety optioneering?
Chapter 01: Reading Delhi
identify key spatial factors that shape women+ sense of safety
On December 16, 2012, India witnessed one of the most heinous and shocking crimes against a young woman in Delhi. Nirbhaya—a name given to protect her identity—was a 23-year-old physiotherapy trainee who was brutally gang-raped and mutilated by six men in a moving bus before being thrown, severely injured, onto the streets of South Delhi. This incident had a nationwide impact, triggering both positive and negative societal shifts. On one hand, it led to a surge in reports of sexual harassment and gender-based crimes, as more women+ came forward to share their experiences. On the other hand, it intensified fear among women+, further restricting their freedom in urban spaces. Many began avoiding public spaces after dark, becoming hyper-aware of their surroundings while navigating the city. While similar crimes had occurred before—and continue to occur—this case became a turning point in conversations around women+ safety, reshaping how public spaces are perceived and experienced by women+ across India.
Alarming crime drifts in Delhi
India currently has 19 metropolitan cities, where most crime data related to women+ is recorded. These cities also report a higher number of complaints filed by women+ against offenders. Such complaints fall under the category of Crimes Against Women, as defined by the two primary legal frameworks governing criminal offenses: the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
Comptroller and Auditor General of India defines this as “[Crimes against women] includes any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.“ According to these laws, while women+ can be victims of general crimes, this category specifically addresses offenses that target and defame women+.
Through this research and data available in the National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB), the number of reported cases across various subcategories of crimes against women+ in India’s top 5 metropolitan cities, have highlighted how women+ are not safe even the most developed cities of the country. Among them, Delhi stands out with an alarmingly high number of cases, making it a critical focus of this research. Between 2020 and 2022, 37,922 cases were reported in the capital alone. Delhi, the capital of India, has a projected population of 7.5 million spread across 700 km², resulting in a population density of approximately 10,700 people per km². Women+ make up roughly 46.27% of this population. As mentioned earlier, crimes against women+ in Delhi have reached alarming levels. From 2020 to the end of 2022, reported cases steadily increased, with the crime rate against women+ reaching approximately 400 per 100,000 women in 2022.
Chapter 02: Listening to Women+ of Delhi
understand and utilize women+’s lived experiences to inform safer and more autonomous urban navigation
Chapter 03: Designing Women+ Safety Systems
explore collective systems that support peer-based, trust driven navigation for women+
