The Legacy of the Dowry in India
On June 12, The New Yorker magazine published a compelling article entitled How Dowries Are Fueling a Femicide Epidemic. In 2022, India ranked a hundred and thirty-fifth out of a hundred and forty-six countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, behind Bangladesh (71st) and Sri Lanka (110th) as well as Islamic monarchies such as Brunei (104th) and Saudi Arabia (127th).
“Ask people the reasons for women’s troubles in India, and they point to a cluster of patriarchal norms. The fact that, after marriage, a wife tends to move in with her husband’s family corrodes her support system and discourages parents from investing in daughters as opposed to sons.”
In much of India, a woman is still viewed as a financial burden, a liability whose upkeep requires compensation. A bride’s dowry is the gift she has traditionally been required to give her husband’s family at the time of marriage. The practice originated in medieval India when families gave dowries to their daughters so that they could continue to support themselves financially even after marriage. Later, during the colonial era, the British made the practice of dowry mandatory, and it became the only acceptable method to be married. Typically, region, religion, caste, the groom’s education, the bride’s skin tone, and the negotiating abilities of both families all played a role in determining the sum.
Despite banning the practice in 1961, India has actually seen a rise in dowry payments over the last century (in the 1920’s, dowry payments occurred in about a third of marriages; by 2008, they were near-universal in rural areas). Bride prices are on the rise across all socio-economic levels in modern India and the resulting increase has led to an upsurge in violence against women.
At New Horizons, we recognize that the resistance to female independence is a major obstacle facing our girls. In Indian society, The New Yorker reports that “women are often urged not to work, and their absence of an income deprives them of bargaining power within the household. Even if women escape abusive relationships, a lack of professional training can make it hard for them to live alone.” By providing the girls with an education and vocational training, we are empowering them to take charge of their own destinies. Currently, 24 of our older girls are attending university classes and 15 girls are enrolled in a variety of vocational training programs.
This month, New Horizons kicked off our 2023-2024 Capital Campaign to construct a larger, more functional Transition Home (we are currently using rented space). You can help us reach our goal to raise $335,000 by going to our website (www.NewHorizonsHouse.org) and making a one-time donation. Thanks, as always, for your on-going partnership.
On behalf of the girls,
Jonathan Spencer
President and Founder