Female Literacy and Crime Against Women in India: Complex Trajectories and Correlations

ABSTRACT Gender equality remains a recurrent goal of governments across the world, yet discrimination and abuse continue to impede the progress of women. Within India's patriarchal society, women continue to be viewed through a stereotypical lens. Despite greater focus on female literacy and enactment of legislations that seek to protect women's rights, the safety of women from crime remains tenuous. This research explores trajectories of female literacy and crimes against women (CAW) in India to find possible correlations. Data from the Ministry of Statistics, the National Crime Record Bureau, National Census records and official sample surveys were obtained from government databases. Further, bivariate regression analysis was used to validate the hypothesis. The results indicate a clear correlation between female literacy and CAW, although other factors may be considered to explain certain anomalies.