Bhavya Gupta was a Grade 4 student when the 2012 horrific gang rape and murder of a medical college intern who was on a private bus in New Delhi, which sparked nationwide outrage and led to the execution of four attackers, prompted her teacher to mention the case in class to raise awareness about women’s safety.

“My teacher gathered all the girls in the classroom and told us about it, and after that our school uniform changed from skirts to pants. I also remember adults around me talking about the case in a victim-blaming way, asking why she was out so late with a guy, as if she was partly at fault,” said Gupta, who is now a 25-year-old communications professional based in the Indian capital.

The victim, 23, who later died from her injuries, was dubbed Nirbhaya – the fearless one – as she could not be named under Indian law. The political fallout from the tragedy was swift, with analysts attributing the then ruling Congress Party’s losses at the local and national levels to the case.

Fourteen years later, another gang rape of a 17-year-old girl, along with a string of other similar cases, has raised questions about whether the country has progressed from the Nirbhaya case. The incident last month in a prominent South Delhi park, close to the prestigious Lady Shri Ram College, prompted street protests expressing outrage and calling for enhancement of women’s safety.

Observers say legal red tape and a male-dominated mindset that fails to respect women have led to their rights and safety being eroded. They warn that the reported cases are only the tip of the iceberg, and short memory after the initial national outrage has perpetuated the vicious cycle.

“Things have got worse, not better,” Gupta said. “I am not in a position to fix the system, so I focus on what I can control. I avoid going out at night, I do not go to isolated or poorly lit areas, and I share my location with my parents whenever I travel.”Delhi authorities are mulling implementing security measures, including restricting access to public parks after dark. Lady Shri Ram College has shifted classes online after the incident, triggering debate on whether its measures are appropriate.

On Monday, the Supreme Court called for stronger measures to prevent crimes against women in the capital.

“We must ensure that every woman in National Capital Territory Delhi feels safe, whether walking at 10pm or travelling by metro or road,” the court said.

Three other recent assaults on minor girls in Delhi preceded the park incident, including the gang rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl last month.

Protesters point out that stronger punishments passed after the landmark Nirbhaya case have failed to improve safety for women on the ground, with data showing more than 80 reported rapes daily across India.

Divya Swamy, a partner at D&Y Law Chambers, said that while there had been some improvement in law enforcement since 2012, women still had to make decisions to protect themselves daily, such as avoiding areas deemed unsafe.

Legal changes had expanded the range of related actions punishable under the law, she said. “But the trial process itself is so burdensome for the victim that it usually leads to low reporting [of crimes].”The latest protests had “reignited the discourse around women’s safety”, Swamy said, and that violations against women were “more common than we know”.

Aparna Mittal, a lawyer and founder of Samana Centre, a leading anti-discrimination consultancy, said the persistently high number of rape and sexual assault cases had led to many women feeling unsafe in India.

“If you look at the cases, they are unfortunately happening every day in India. We must also remember that many such cases go unreported, so the official numbers we see are lower than the actual cases that occur,” she warned.

While peaceful protests against gender-based violence are happening, the state machinery and institutions tasked with prevention, investigation and punishment are not “functioning adequately or timely”, according to Mittal.

“Many women struggle to their police complaints, especially when the perpetrators are well-connected and privileged. The process of investigation is often marred with loopholes, and judicial verdicts are inevitably delayed because of a multitude of reasons,” she added.

Anecdotally, some cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru were safer than Delhi, but even in these places there was “no guarantee of women’s safety”, Mittal said.

“Personally, I may feel safer in Mumbai and Bengaluru than Delhi. In Mumbai, I can take a local cab at 11pm, but in Delhi, I will never do it.”To bring about changes, Mittal called for a transformation away from the “patriarchal mindset” in the country.

“All this learning has to start in nursery schools and homes – respecting women, treating women as equals, and not looking at women in an over-sexualised manner,” she said.

Mittal cited how India’s patriarchal society had led companies to assume that women were not good enough for top management and people on social media “body-shaming” women over their choice of attire.

Gupta is aware of the societal bias against women. She recounted how she was alone at night when she experienced a long delay on a bus journey between the city of Dehradun and Delhi and frantically looked for another female passenger to feel safe.

She wore an iron bracelet that she believed could ward off evil and act as a standby weapon if she was facing danger, Gupta said.

“Depending on where I am, I will cover up with a long shrug or [scarf] over what I am wearing, not because I want to, but because I have learned that how I dress can affect whether I get harassed.”