Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T17:11:11.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

DOWRY DEMAND AND HARASSMENT: PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS IN INDIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2015

VISALAKSHI JEYASEELAN ,
SHUBA KUMAR ,
L. JEYASEELAN ,
VISWANATHAN SHANKAR ,
BIJESH KUMAR YADAV  and
SHRIKANT I. BANGDIWALA
VISALAKSHI JEYASEELAN
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
SHUBA KUMAR
Affiliation:
Samarth NGO, Chennai, India
L. JEYASEELAN*
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
VISWANATHAN SHANKAR
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA
BIJESH KUMAR YADAV
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
SHRIKANT I. BANGDIWALA
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The practice of dowry is widespread in India and refers to the payment of cash/gifts by the bride's family to the bridegroom's family before marriage. Though prohibited by law, dowry is widely practised, and often contributes to severe injuries and even death of young brides. This study examined the prevalence and risk factors for dowry demand and dowry harassment and its psychosocial correlates across different social strata in India, and also by husband and mother-in-law characteristics. In a cross-sectional survey of 9938 women in rural, urban and urban non-slum sites across India conducted in 1998–99, dowry demand was found to be significantly higher (p<0.001) in the urban non-slum and rural areas (26% and 23% respectively) than in urban slum areas (18%). Overall, 17% of groom's families were not satisfied with the dowry, this being higher in rural areas (21%) than in urban slum and non-slum areas (about 14% in both). The overall prevalence of dowry harassment among this group of women was 13.3%. Mothers-in-law who had themselves experienced dowry demand were 14 (95% CI 5.0–40.4) and 5 (95% CI 1.3–18.9) times more likely to demand and harass daughters-in-law over dowry, respectively. Another significant risk factor for dowry-related harassment was mother-in law's status in the family. Interventions related to modifiable risk factors, such as increased social support at the community level, should help reduce dowry harassment.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 47 , Issue 6 , November 2015 , pp. 727 - 745
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmed-Ghosh, H. (2004) Chattels of society: domestic violence in India. Violence Against Women 10, 94–118.Google Scholar
Ali, T., Árnadóttir, G. & Kulane, A. (2013) Dowry practices and their negative consequences from a female perspective in Karachi, Pakistan. Health 5, 84–91.Google Scholar
Anderson, S. (2007) The economics of dowry and bride-price. Journal of Economic Perspectives 21, 151–174.Google Scholar
Azad India Foundation (2013) Dowry System in India. URL: http://azadindia.org/social-issues/dowry-system-in-india.html Google Scholar
Babu, G. R. & Babu, B. V. (2011) Dowry-deaths: a neglected public health issue in India. International Health 3, 35–43.Google Scholar
Banerjee, P. R. (2014) Dowry in 21st-century India: the sociocultural face of exploitation. Trauma Violence Abuse 15, 34–40.Google Scholar
Banerji, M., Martin, S. & Desai, S. (2008) Are the young and the educated more likely to have “love” than arranged marriage? A study of autonomy in partner choice in India. India Human Development Survey Working Paper No. 8. URL: http://www.ihds.umd.edu/ABpartnerchoice.html Google Scholar
Bangdiwala, S. I., Ramiro, L., Sadowski, L. S., Bordin, I. A. S., Hunter, W. & Shankar, V. (2004) Intimate partner violence and the role of socioeconomic indicators in WorldSAFE communities in Chile, Egypt, India and the Philippines. Injury Control and Safety Promotion 11, 101–109.Google Scholar
Barua, A. & Kurz, K. (2001) Reproductive health-seeking by married adolescent girls in Maharashtra, India. Reproductive Health Matters 9, 53–62.Google Scholar
Bhat, M. & Ullman, S. E. (2014) Examining marital violence in India: review and recommendations for future research and practice. Trauma Violence Abuse 15, 57–74.Google Scholar
Blanc, A. K. (2001) The effect of power in sexual relationships on sexual and reproductive health: an examination of the evidence. Studies in Family Planning 32, 189–213.Google Scholar
Bulbeck, C. (1998) Reorienting Western Feminisms: Women's Diversity in a Post-Colonial World. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Census of India (2011) Primary Census Abstract for Slum. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. URL: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-Documents/Slum-26-09-13.pdf Google Scholar
Chowdhury, A. R. (2010) Money and Marriage: The Practice of Dowry and Brideprice in Rural India. Brown University. URL: http://paa2010.princeton.edu/papers/100225 Google Scholar
Dave, A. & Solanki, G. (2000) Special Cell for Women and Children: A Research Study on Domestic Violence. Final end-of-project report for PROWID to the International Center for Research on Women. International Center for Research on Women, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Ghouri, A. M. & Abrar, N. (2010) The women violence in Pakistan: evidence from rural and urban areas. European Journal of Social Sciences 16, 267–274.Google Scholar
Go, V. F., Johnson, S. C., Bentley, M. E., Sivaram, S., Srikrishnan, A. K., Celentano, D. D. et al. (2003) Crossing the threshold: engendered definitions of socially acceptable domestic violence in Chennai, India. Culture, Health & Sexuality 5, 393–408.Google Scholar
Hitchcock, A. (2001) Rising Number of Dowry Deaths in India. World Socialist. URL: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/07/ind-j04.html.Google Scholar
Jejeebhoy, S. (1998) Wife beating in rural India: A husband's right? Evidence from survey data. Economic and Political Weekly 15, 855–862.Google Scholar
Jejeebhoy, S. J. & Sebastian, M. P. (2003) Actions that Protect: Promoting Sexual and Reproductive health and choice among Young people in India. Population Council, New Delhi. URL: http://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/wp/seasia/seawp18.pdf Google Scholar
Jeyaseelan, L., Kumar, S., Neelakantan, N., Peedicayil, A., Pillai, R. & Duvvury, N. (2007) Physical spousal violence against women in India: some risk factors. Journal of Biosocial Science 39, 657–670.Google Scholar
Jeyaseelan, L., Sadowski, L. S., Kumar, S., Hassan, F., Ramiro, L. & Vizcarra, B. (2004) World studies of abuse in the family environment – risk factors for physical intimate partner violence. Injury Control and Safety Promotion 11, 117–124.Google Scholar
Khosla, A. H., Dua, D., Devi, L. & Sud, S. S. (2005) Domestic violence in pregnancy in North Indian women. Indian Journal of Medical Sciences 59, 195–199.Google Scholar
Krishnan, S., Subbiah, K., Khanum, S., Chandra, P. S. & Padian, N. S. (2012) An intergenerational women's empowerment intervention to mitigate domestic violence: results of a pilot study in Bengaluru, India. Violence Against Women 18, 346–370.Google Scholar
Kumar, S., Jeyaseelan, L., Suresh, S. & Ahuja, R. C. (2005) Domestic violence and its mental health correlates in Indian women. British Journal of Psychiatry 187, 62–67.Google Scholar
Kumar, V. (2003) Burnt wives. A study of suicides. Burns 29, 31–35.Google Scholar
Kumari, R. (1989) Brides Are Not for Burning: Dowry Victims in India. Sangam Books.Google Scholar
Muthal-Rathore, A., Tripathi, R. & Arora, R. (2002) Domestic violence against pregnant women interviewed at a hospital in New Delhi. International Journal of Gynaecology & Obstetrics 76, 83–85.Google Scholar
Naved, R. T. & Persson, L. A. (2010) Dowry and spousal physical violence against women in Bangladesh. Journal of Family Issues 31, 830–856.Google Scholar
NCRB (1998 & 2010) Disposal of Cases by Courts. National Crime Records Bureau, India.Google Scholar
NFHS-3 (no date) National Family Health Survey. Chapter 15: Domestic-Violence. URL: http://hetv.org/india/nfhs/nfhs3/NFHS-3-Chapter-15-Domestic-Violence.pdf Google Scholar
Panda, P. & Agarwal, B. (2005) Marital violence, human development and women's property status in India. World Development 33, 823–850.Google Scholar
Peedicayil, A., Sadowski, L. S., Jeyaseelan, L., Shankar, V., Jain, D., Suresh, S. & Bangdiwala, S. I. (2004) Spousal physical violence against women during pregnancy. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 111, 682–687.Google Scholar
Philips, A. (2003) Stridhanam: rethinking dowry, inheritance and women's resistance among the Syrian Christians of Kerala. Anthropologica 45, 245–263.Google Scholar
Rao, V. (1997) Wife beating in rural south India: a qualitative and econometric analysis. Social Science & Medicine 44, 1169–1180.Google Scholar
Rocca, C. H., Rathod, S., Falle, T., Pande, R. P. & Krishnan, S. (2009) Challenging assumptions about women's empowerment: social and economic resources and domestic violence among young married women in urban south India. International Journal of Epidemiology 38, 577–585.Google Scholar
Sadowski, L. S., Hunter, W. M., Bangdiwala, S. I. & Muñoz, S. R. (2004) The world studies of abuse in the family environment (WorldSAFE): a model of a multi-national study of family violence. Injury Control and Safety Promotion 11, 81–90.Google Scholar
Schuler, S. R., Hashemi, S. M., Riley, A. P. & Akhter, S. (1996) Credit programs, patriarchy and men's violence against women in rural Bangladesh. Social Science & Medicine 12, 1729–1742.Google Scholar
Sharma, U. (1993) Dowry in north India: its consequences for women. In Uberoi, P. (ed.) Family, Kinship and Marriage in India. Oxford University Press, Delhi, pp. 341–356.Google Scholar
Shenk, M. K. (2007) Dowry and public policy in contemporary India. Human Nature 18, 242–263.Google Scholar
Srinivasan, P. & Lee, G. R. (2004) The dowry system in northern India: women's attitudes and social change. Journal of Marriage and Family 66, 1108–1117.Google Scholar
Stone, L. & James, C. (1995) Dowry, bride-burning, and female power in India. Women's Studies International Forum 18, 125–134.Google Scholar
Stuart, G. L., Ramsey, S. E., Moore, T. M., Kahler, C. W., Farrell, L. E., Recupero, P. R. & Brown, R. A. (2003) Reduction in marital violence following treatment for alcohol dependence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 18, 1113–1131.Google Scholar
Tichy, L. L., Becker, J. V. & Sisco, M. M. (2009) The downside of patriarchal benevolence: ambivalence in addressing domestic violence and socio-economic considerations for women of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Family Violence 24, 547–558.Google Scholar
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (2012) Confronting Dowry-Related Violence in India: Women at the Center of Justice. URL: http://www.unwomen.org/2012/12/confronting-dowry-related-violence-in-india-women-at-the-center-of-justice Google Scholar
Vindhya, U. (2000) Dowry deaths in Andhra Pradesh, India: response of the criminal justice system. Violence against Women 6, 1085–1108.Google Scholar
Williams, C. J. (2013) India 'dowry deaths' still rising despite modernization. Los Angeles Times, 5th September 2013. URL: (http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/05/world/la-fg-wn-india-dowry-deaths-20130904)Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2005) WHO Multi-Country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2006) Intimate Partner Violence and Alcohol Fact Sheet. WHO, Geneva. URL: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/factsheets/ft_intimate.pdf Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2013) Violence against Women: Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence against Women. WHO, Geneva. URL: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/ Google Scholar