28% Delhi women get harassment calls, SMSes: Truecaller

Twenty-eight per cent women in Delhi have reported receiving harassment calls and SMSes every week, making it the highest in India, Swedish caller identification app Truecaller said on Thursday as it launched the "#ItsNotOK" campaign against women harassment ahead of International Women's Day.

One in three women continue to receive inappropriate calls and SMSes, Truecaller, in its report named "Understanding Impact of Harassment Spam Calls & SMS for Women", said.

"Sexual harassment through messages and calls is a worldwide issue that has not been addressed. Our campaign is to bring awareness around the issue, to encourage discussion, and to make a societal impact that this behaviour is not okay," Lindsey LaMont, Global Brand Manager, Truecaller, said in a statement.

Close to 78 per cent women reported feeling angry or irritated by harassment calls, while more than 37 per cent of them also felt troubled, worried or frightened, the report added.

It said 52 per cent women received unknown calls and SMSes with inappropriate content at least once a week. 

Most women were also subjected to unprecedented phishing calls with 53 per cent of them receiving calls from fraudsters seeking to collect sensitive personal data and eight per cent receiving counterfeit calls almost daily.