Nirbhaya means "fearless" in Hindi. She became known to the world in 2012 as the young medical student who was gang-raped in a private bus by six drunken men who twisted a rod inside of her after the rapes, and then threw her out of the bus. She later died. Her adult killers were arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death, an unusual outcome in a country where only one out of four rape cases leads to a conviction. (A juvenile served three years and is now living under a different name.) More remarkable was Indian society's reaction to Nirbhaya's attack -- day after day of women protesting in the streets, chanting "Freedom without fear!" -- that has perhaps begun to lead to lasting change.

Local and national agencies have poured money into new women's safety initiatives. In 2013 the leadership then in power set aside $145 million, calling it the Nirbhaya Fund, for measures to boost women's security. The current government has promised nearly three times that amount to start turning eight major cities, including Delhi, into safer, better lit, and possibly more compassionate places for women.