Women are most vulnerable to crime despite
occupying central position in shaping a society as the first teacher of
children. In India too, having equal rights and constitutional
safeguards, the incidences of crime against them are large and grave.
In this context of crime against women, especially rape has been
increasing over time. This paper explores the spatial and temporal
aspects of crime against women in India with special reference to
rape. It also examines the crime against women with its spatial,
socio-economic and demographic associates using related data
obtained from the National Crime Records Bureau India, Indian
Census and other government sources of the Government of India.
The simple statistical, choropleth mapping and other cartographic
representation methods have been used to see the crime rates, spatiotemporal
patterns of crime, and association of crime with its
correlates. The major findings are visible spatial variations across the
country and are also in the rising trends in terms of incidence and
rates over the reference period. The study also indicates that the
geographical associations are somewhat observed. However, selected
indicators of socio-economic factors seem to have no significant
bearing on crime against women at this level.