How has the cultural practice of dowry endowment affected women’s rights and health in India?…
According to a United Nations report, women of India are being treated unequal despite that the Indian constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Women in India are seen as an economic burden to families due to the high dowries. This has caused…
Also, a girl’s family can end up deep in dept paying a dowry to secure her marriage, not to mention arranging for all the wedding expenses and purchasing the gold jewellery she is expected to wear on her wedding day. Although outlawed in India since the early sixties, the dowry system is still common and takes different forms where some families give away money and gold, while others give land, motor vehicles and sometimes even fully furnished houses. This contributes to the cultural preference for boys.…
The Indian culture suffers greatly from this problem and has even more hardship than the American women. “A Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll last year ranked India as the world’s fourth most dangerous country for a women,” (Challenges of being a women in India 1). This indicates how women are being treated in this culture. They are being treated with disrespect and as they are unable to live up to the status of a man. As one of the most dangerous countries for women, many problems occur. For example, “Even though the practice is outlawed, 300,000 to 600,000 female fetuses are aborted every year in India because of the preference for boys,” (Challenges of Being a Women in India 1). Again this indicates to inequality among genders. These people are forcefully aborting these female fetuses just because they are female. The favoritism for men is harming the wellbeing of women. The gender should not matter. They are both humans, they are both of the same species. This problem between the genders is extreme and action needs to be taken. The problem lies within the power who makes the decisions of the country of…
The Dowry system in India was never intended to lead to the abuse of women. It was traditionally employed as a way of showing love to the daughter who was entering a new phase of her life as a married woman. It qualified her to become a full member of the new family system and she wasn't seen as a hindrance or drain on the new family's resources. It was only after British Colonial rule that this standard within Hinduism mutated into what it is today.…
December 2006 Dowry: The most frequently forgotten form of gender violence in Pakistan By Dr.Rakhshinda Perveen Pakistan, Gender based Violence: The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is riddled by contrasts in almost every sector. It is characterized by a selective male friendly interpretation of the dominant religion Islam and elitist friendly application of laws. Being a part of the patriarchal belt of South Asia, the culture, family and society is patriarchal. Although recent entry of “elected’ women representatives in the parliament and local bodies are being used as an instrument to make believe that women are empowered in Pakistan, the fact is that empowerment ( social, economic, political and legal) for most of the Pakistani women and disadvantaged communities in Pakistan is yet a distant dream. However, a number of efforts are underway to promote participation of women in all areas of development. There is also a growing attention by the current government to gender issues including violence that experienced political marginalization in previous democratic as well as military regimes. The visible outcome of such efforts which to date are limited to candid media, generous discourse and ceremonial gestures has yet to come. The country, today, like most other countries round the globe is facing the phenomenon of gender based violence. In the recent years, whenever and wherever, one speaks of gender violence and Pakistan or Pakistani communities outside Pakistan; one cannot recall any other form of violence but Honor Killing or the plight of Mukhtaran Mai. Media, especially western media have created hype on these. The net result of these associations is the convenient forgetfulness, by the Governments, Media, NGOs and other stake holders of the commonest form of gender violence in Pakistani; that is Dowry violence. Dowry violence is a culturally accepted; media generated and legally sanctioned form of violence, yet to be recognized as the most pertinent Pakistani…
presents which are given at the time of a marriage to the bride (without nay demand having been made in that behalf):…
Because of no concept of inheritance in India, Indians give the part of their property in the kind or cash and other necessities of life to their daughter and she was “cut off” from their natal families after marriage. Gradually people started treating this tradition as a culture and then an important part of the marriage that feed the roots of the dowry problem. People are now following this tradition in almost every corner of the world.…
Earlier presents were given to the bride as well bridegroom out of love. It was given voluntarily and there was no compulsion exercised. It was also given to assist the newly-wedded couple to set up and establishment of their own without much difficulty and to provide financial security in the adverse circumstances. But with the passage of time, these customs instead of proving help to the couple has virtually corrupted the institution of marriage itself. Now it has taken the frightening name of dowry and bridegrooms engage in unfair means such as force and coercion for obtaining the dowry. Even education has failed to suppress and curb this social evil of dowry; rather it has increased its practice. The modern educated classes are demanding such a heavy dowry that it has become impossible for parents to give their daughters in marriage. They want to recover every penny spent on their…
The tradition of paying dowry at the time of a daughter’s marriage is alive and kicking. This amount can be so huge that many parents will go to extreme lengths to avoid having a daughter in the first place.…
Dowry is one of the most wicked, revolting, and condemnable practices that have been distressing the Indian society. This immorality is well acquainted to people in forms of cash and valuables goods given by the bride's family to the groom's family along with the bride. The never-ending insatiability of human being has arrived at an edge whereby it is no longer allowable. An immense numbers of women have been exterminated for not presenting sufficient amount of dowry to the groom's family, luckily enough, if they are not killed then the bride's family and relatives have live a life in which they have to face shame, humiliation and embarrassment from the ridiculed of the groom's family. Therefore, either way it is like a commit suicide.…
Womanhood is being dishonored by this heinous deed, especially in sub continental societies, who are suffering from this social evil at the moment. The dowry system is prevalent virtually in all parts of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.…
In India, welfare measures like empowerment of women, reservation in Parliament, free education to girl child and a lot of other woman progressive initiative, do not make sense when we look at cases of female foeticide. There are only 933 females for every 1000 males against global figure of 1060 females per 1000 males. Sex ratio is a composite indicator of woman's status in a society. If we analyse state wise sex ratio, it is most disturbing to note that the States like Punjab and Haryana which are among the prosperous states of India, female-male ratio is continuously declining.…
The practice is linked to the curse of dowry. “Chhota Chhora dhhej kam mangta” (the younger the groom, the smaller the dowry demand) justifies many such alliances. The grimmest part of the scenario is the physical havoc that early marriage wreaks upon girls who are too young to bear the burden of maternal and child mortality. There is also the belief that a daughters’ marriage is a scared obligation that parents must fulfill at the earliest. A new legislation, Prevention of Child marriages Bill, 2004, to replace the loophole-ridden 1929 Act is awaiting parliament’s…
A girl child is still a burden to her parent. More horrible and pitiable is that a woman supervisor’s arm is cut off for investigating child marriages. The only way to eradicate such evil customs is to spread proper education among the masses because education brings consciousness and leads to change.…