Crimes against women down in India reforms

An increase in women entering local India politics has caused a significant rise in documented crimes against women, with researchers saying that's good news. It's good news because the increase is credited to greater reporting of crimes against women rather than more actual crimes, a study said. The research by the Center for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy at the University of Warwick in Britain and the Harvard Business School examined the impact of the Panchayati Raj reform passed in 1993, which required Indian states to set aside one-third of all membership and leader positions in local government councils for women, a Warwick release said Monday. The researchers say there are two reasons behind the surge in reported crimes against women. Firstly, greater numbers of female politicians are prompting police to be more responsive to crimes against women, they said. And secondly, women victims who interact with more sympathetic women leaders feel encouraged to report crimes. "The first thing we want to point out is that this is good news," Anandi Mani, Warwick professor of economics, said. "And consistent with our reporting hypothesis, areas with longer exposure to women in local government show an eventual decline in the crime rate against women, so there is a deterrent effect over time," she said.