The army has been accused sexism after regiments referred to sewing sets carried by soldiers as “housewife kits”. Acknowledging the term was “outdated”, the Ministry of Defence said that it no longer has a place in the armed forces.

Mohamad Imran Abd Hamid, an MP with the ruling People’s Justice Party, told his fellow politicians that men commit sex crimes because they are “seduced” by women’s actions and clothing.

Rape is one of the most under-reported crimes in India – with some estimates indicating 90 to 95 per cent of rape cases remain unreported. According to government data, the number of crimes against women reported to police in India rose by 83 per cent from 2007 to 2016. Four rape complaints were reported every hour in 2016, the data showed.

'The year 1950 rang and it wants its rulebook back. This is super embarrassing and they should have progressed further,' says Norwegian Labour Party’s women’s spokesperson.

The minister of public administration and member of the far right League Party, tweeted: “#RedCode is a regulation that says when a woman reports an attack, she must be listened to within three days by the public prosecutor or the judicial police. In this way, it can be seen straight away whether they are dealing with a hysterical woman or with a woman whose life is in danger, and in that case be able to save her”.

“Sometimes very important individuals in Holocaust research such as Rachel Auerbach got overshadowed by men they were working with in how they were remembered. Women were more likely to be erased from the record.”

In an historic first, thousands of people participated in a 10,000-kilometre long Dignity March across India to raise awareness about sexual violence, bring an end to stigma faced by survivors, and highlight the barriers women and children face in accessing justice.

The survey found 51 per cent of respondents had suffered from the problem, or knew someone who had. More than two-thirds had been forced to use makeshift menstrual protection at some point.