Bangladesh less safe than last year: Gallup

Bangladesh is less safe than last year as it has a lower score of public perceptions in the law and order index recently published by Gallup – Washington-based analytics and advisory organisation.

In the global law and order index published on Tuesday, the country scored 77 out of a possible 100 in 2020 which was 81 in the previous year.  The higher the score means more people in a country feel secure.

The law and order index is a composite score based-on people's reported confidence in their local police, their feelings of personal safety and the incidence of theft and assault or mugging in the past year.

The index score for the world in 2020 was 82 out of a possible 100 on the law and order index -- which means people felt as safe as they have since 2017.

Norway, which has the highest score of 94, is top on the list and is named the safest place in the world.

The United Arab Emirates, China and Switzerland, which have a score of 93, was second next on the list, followed by Finland, Iceland and Tajikistan, which scored 92.

Because of the pandemic, Gallup was unable to conduct field surveys in two countries -- Singapore and Afghanistan -- which have scored the highest and lowest on the index year after year.

The results were based on face-to-face and telephone interviews conducted by Gallup with more than 120,000 adults in 115 countries and areas in 2020, the Gallup law and order report-2021 stated.

The survey asked four questions to scale people's sense of personal security and their personal experiences with crime and law enforcement.

Respondents were asked if they had confidence in the local police in the area where they lived and if they felt safe walking alone at night.

They were also asked if they had money or property stolen from them or someone living with them in the last 12 months, or if they had been assaulted or mugged in the same period.

Norway, which posted the highest score on the index in 2020 with a 94, consistently ranks near the top. Venezuela and Gabon, which posted the lowest scores on the index in 2020, at 53 each, also consistently ranked near the bottom.

Among South Asian countries, Pakistan and Sri Lanka jointly scored 84, India 81, Nepal 78.