India has been named as the most dangerous country for women, and the United States the only Western nation among the top 10, in a survey of global experts.
It comes after the #MeToo campaign triggered a flood of complaints about sexual harassment and assault.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation survey asked about 550 experts in women's issues which of the 193 United Nations member states they considered most dangerous on a range of issues.
The United States came 10th overall but ranked joint-third with Syria when respondents were asked where women most risked sexual violence, harassment and coercion into sex, and sixth regarding non-sexual violence such as domestic and mental abuse.
Experts, advocates, and survivors said a rising awareness of assault against women pegged to the #MeToo movement, the country's outsized role on the world stage and a tolerance of violence added to the perception of danger in the United States.
Gabrielle Rubin runs a women's self-defence class in New York and says class attendance has risen since #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment went viral last October, with Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein accused of sexual misconduct by more than 70 women dating back decades.
Weinstein this month pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault.
The high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labour made India the most dangerous for women.
The poll was a repeat of a survey in 2011 that found experts saw Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia as the most dangerous countries for women.
Experts said India moving to the top of poll showed not enough was being done to tackle the danger women faced, more than five years after the rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi made violence against women a national priority.
Government data shows reported cases of crime against women rose by 83 per cent between 2007 and 2016, when there were four cases of rape reported every hour.
THE TOP 10
1. India
2. Afghanistan
3. Syria
4. Somalia
5. Saudi Arabia
6. Pakistan
7. Democratic Republic of Congo
8. Yemen
9. Nigeria
10. United States
