Are fewer women reporting crime in Kashmir?

A decline in registered cases raises questions about stigma, access to justice and the growing role of informal community settlements.

Fewer women in Jammu and Kashmir appear in police records as victims of crime than they did a few years ago.

The figures point to a decline, but the reasons behind that decline remain harder to establish.

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that police and other government institutions registered more than 3,700 cases of crime against women in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022.

The number fell slightly in 2023, when more than 3,600 cases were registered. In 2024, the figure dropped sharply to more than 3,360 cases.

The decline follows a period of considerable fluctuation.

The Union Territory recorded about 3,400 cases in 2020, followed by a rise to 3,937 in 2021. The numbers then fell through 2022 and 2023 before reaching their 2024 level.

The figures also include a small but significant category of offences committed online.

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 50 cases of cybercrime against women in the period covered by the data, including 33 cases involving cyber pornography, hosting or publishing obscene sexual material.

Police records, however, capture cases that reach police stations or other government institutions.

They provide a record of reported crime rather than a complete count of crimes experienced by women.

Dr Mantasha Binti Rashid, a civil servant and founder of the Kashmir Women Collective, said the figures should therefore be read with caution.

She described registered cases as “only the tip of the iceberg,” pointing to social stigma as a major barrier to reporting.

Many women, she said, choose not to approach the police after experiencing a crime because reporting can bring social pressure and stigma.

“That decision keeps an incident outside official records, leaving the statistics unable to show the full scale of the problem,” she added. “The reporting process itself can also influence the numbers.”

Observers believe prolonged judicial delays and loopholes in implementation can discourage women from pursuing formal complaints, even though laws protecting women provide strong legal provisions.

Women’s police stations face another constraint.

These stations serve as a primary point where women can register complaints and seek police intervention, while growing workloads place pressure on limited staff and resources.

“A heavier caseload can affect how quickly complaints receive investigation and follow-up,” Dr Mantasha said.

The formal justice system also competes with a long-standing system of community-level dispute resolution in Kashmir.

Some disputes involving women are settled through local institutions such as masjid committees or mohalla committees rather than through police stations or courts.

“Such settlements leave no corresponding entry in police or judicial records,” a senior police officer said.

“A dispute may therefore reach a resolution within a community while remaining absent from official crime statistics.”

That difference becomes important when the latest figures are read as evidence of falling crime.

“The crime data establishes that fewer cases entered the official system in 2024 than in 2021,” the officer continued. “But it does not establish that fewer women experienced crimes.”

The pattern also shows why a single downward movement can provide an incomplete picture.

“The number of registered cases rose substantially between 2020 and 2021 before declining in subsequent years,” said Nilofer Ali, a rights activist in Srinagar.

“Changes in reporting, access to institutions, police workload, judicial processes and community settlements can all influence the number eventually recorded.”

The statistics remain silent for women who never enter the formal system.

The falling numbers therefore tell one clear story about police records while leaving another question unanswered: how much crime remains outside them?