Synopsis The semantic meaning of ‘crime against women’ is direct or indirect physical or mental cruelty to women. Various kinds of violence against women are eve-teasing, molestation, bigamy, fraudulent marriage, adultery and enticement of married women abduction and kidnapping, rape, harassment to women at working place, wife beating, dowry death, female child abuse and abuse of elderly female etc. The alarming rate in the crimes against women can to a large extent be attributed to the lack of infrastructures for single working women who have to leave their families at an early age to work away from home. The most effective strategies are likely to be those that support women to organise peer groups and mobilise community resources and public services, including women’s health services. Such approaches enable women to overcome resignation to the legitimacy of the established order are important factor in the perpetuation of imbalances of power between women and men. If women are to implement their reproductive preferences, then it is essential that their empowerment occur not only within their personal spheres, but also in the broader spheres of the community and the state.