Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T18:04:39.640Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

DOWRY, ‘DOWRY AUTONOMY’ AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONG YOUNG MARRIED WOMEN IN INDIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2018

Saseendran Pallikadavath  and
Tamsin Bradley
Saseendran Pallikadavath*
Affiliation:
Portsmouth–Brawijaya Centre for Global Health, Population and Policy, University of Portsmouth, UK, and University of Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
Tamsin Bradley
Affiliation:
International Development Studies, School of Languages and Area Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Dowry practice, women’s autonomy to use dowry (‘dowry autonomy’) and the association of these with domestic violence were examined among young married women in India. Data were taken from the ‘Youth in India: Situation and Needs Study’ carried out in six Indian states during 2006–07. A total of 13,912 women aged 15–24 years were included in the study. About three-quarters of the women reported receiving a dowry at their marriage, and about 66% reported having the ability to exercise autonomy over the use of it – ‘dowry autonomy’. Dowry given without ‘dowry autonomy’ was found to have had no protective value against young women experiencing physical domestic violence in India. While women’s participation in paid employment increased the odds of them experiencing physical domestic violence, women’s education and marrying after the age of 18 years reduced the likelihood of experiencing physical domestic violence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , May 2019 , pp. 353 - 373
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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

Ahmad, N. (2010) Female feticide in India. Issues in Law and Medicine 26(1), 13–29.Google Scholar
Ambrus, A., Field, E. & Torero, M. (2010) Muslim family law, prenuptial arrangements, and the emergence of dowry in Bangladesh. Quarterly Journal of Economics 125(3), 1349–1397.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. W. (1995) India’s baby brides: freedom vs. tradition. International Herald Tribune 1, 10.Google Scholar
Ashraf, N. (1997) Dowry among Muslims in Bihar. Economic and Political Weekly 32(52), 3310–3311.Google Scholar
BBC. (2011) India’s unwanted girls. BBC News South Asia, 23rd May 2011. URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13331808 (accessed 20th March 2017).Google Scholar
Biao, X. (2005) Gender, dowry and the migration system of Indian information technology professionals. Indian Journal of Gender Studies 12, 357–380.Google Scholar
Bloch, F. & Rao, V. (2002) Terror as a bargaining instrument: a case study of dowry violence in rural India. American Economic Review 92(4), 1029–1043.10.1257/00028280260344588Google Scholar
Bradley, T. & Pallikadavath, S. (2013) Dowry and women’s lives in Kerala: what has changed in a decade? Contemporary South Asia 21(4), 444–461.10.1080/09584935.2013.856379Google Scholar
Carroll, L. (1991) Daughter’s right of inheritance in India: a perspective on the problem of dowry. Modern Asian Studies 25(4), 791–809.Google Scholar
Centre for Multilevel Modelling. (2012) A Software Package for Fitting Multilevel Models. URL: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmm/software/mlwin/ (accessed 20th March 2016).Google Scholar
Dalmia, S. & Lawrence, P. G. (2005) The institution of dowry in India: why it continues to prevail. Journal of Developing Areas 38(2), 71–93.10.1353/jda.2005.0018Google Scholar
Diamond-Smith, N., Luke, N. & McGarvey, S. (2008) ‘Too many girls, too much dowry’: son preference and daughter aversion in rural Tamil Nadu, India. Culture, Health and Sexuality 10(7), 697–708.Google Scholar
Dogra, B. (1997) Burden of dowry system. Economic and Political Weekly 32(44/45), 2855.Google Scholar
Dommaraju, P. (2009) Female schooling and marriage change in India. Population 64(4), 667–683.Google Scholar
Dyson, T. & Moore, M. (1983) On kinship structure, female autonomy, and demographic behaviour in India. Population and Development Review 9(1), 35–60.Google Scholar
Ghosh, B. & Choudhuri, T. (2011) Legal protection against domestic violence in India: scope and limitations. Journal of Family Violence 26(4), 319–330.Google Scholar
Goldstein, H. (2010) Multilevel Statistical Models, 4th edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Chicester.Google Scholar
Goody, J. (ed.) (1973) Bridewealth and Dowry in Africa and Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hayer, J. (1992) The role of dowries and daughters’ marriages in the accumulation and distribution of capital in a South Indian Community. Journal of International Development 44(4), 419–436.Google Scholar
IIPS & ICF (2017) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015–16: India. IIPS, Mumbai.Google Scholar
IIPS & Macro International. (2007) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), 2005–06 Vol. 1, IIPS, Mumbai.Google Scholar
IIPS & Population Council. (2010) Youth in India: Situation and Needs 2006–2007. IIPS, Mumbai.Google Scholar
Jeyaseelan, L., Kumar, S., Neelakantan, N., Peedicayil, A. & Pillai, R. (2007) Physical spousal violence against women in India: some risk factors. Journal of Biosocial Science 39(5), 657–670.Google Scholar
Kimuna, S. R., Djamba, Y. K., Ciciurkaite, G. & Cherukuri, S. (2013) Domestic violence in India: insights from the 2005–2006 National Family Health Survey. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 28(4), 773–807.10.1177/0886260512455867Google Scholar
Kishwar, M. (1993) Dowry calculations: daughter’s rights in her parental family. MANUSHI 78(7), 8–17.Google Scholar
Leckie, G. & Charlton, C. (2011) Runmlwin: Stata Module for Fitting Multilevel Models in the Mlwin Software Package. Centre for Multilevel Modelling, University of Bristol.Google Scholar
Mishra, M. (2006) Dowry on rise among Muslims. The Times of India. URL: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dowry-on-rise-among-Muslims/articleshow/1973765.cms (accessed 10th February 2017).Google Scholar
Naved, R. T. & Persson, L. A. (2008) Factors associated with physical spousal abuse of women during pregnancy in Bangladesh. International Family Planning Perspectives 34(2), 71–78.10.1363/3407108Google Scholar
Naved, R. T. & Persson, L. A. (2010) Dowry and spousal physical violence against women in Bangladesh. Journal of Family Issues 31(6), 830–856.Google Scholar
NCRB. (2011) Incidence of crimes committed against women during 2011. National Criminal Records Bureau. URL: http://ncrb.nic.in/ (accessed 25th September 2012).Google Scholar
Paudel, G. S. (2007) Domestic violence against women in Nepal. Gender, Technology and Development 11(2), 199–233.Google Scholar
Prasad, B. D. (1994) Dowry-related violence: a content analysis of news in selected newspapers. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 25(1), 71–89.Google Scholar
Rao, N. (2012) Male ‘providers’ and female ‘housewives’: a gendered co-performance in rural north India. Development and Change 43(5), 1025–1048.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(2), 577–585.Google Scholar
Shetty, B. S., Rao, P. P. & Shetty, A. S. (2012) Legal terrorism in domestic violence – an Indian outlook. Medico-Legal Journal 80(33-38), 33–38.Google Scholar
Sinha, A., Mallik, S., Sanyal, D., Dasgupta, S., Pal, D. & Mukherjee, A. (2012) Domestic violence among ever married women of reproductive age group in a slum area of Kolkata. Indian Journal of Public Health 56(3), 31–36.10.4103/0019-557X.96955Google 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(5), 1108–1117.Google Scholar
Srinivasan, S. & Bedi, A. S. (2007) Domestic violence and dowry: evidence from a South Indian village. World Development 35(5), 857–880.Google Scholar
StataCorp. (2009) Stata Statistical Software: Release 11. Stata Corp LP, College Station, TX.Google Scholar
Stein, D. (1988) Burning widows, burning brides: the perils of daughterhood in India. Pacific Affairs 61(3), 465–485.Google Scholar
Suran, L., Amin, S., Huq, L. & Chowdury, K. (2004) Does dowry improve life for brides? A test of the bequest theory of dowry in rural Bangladesh. Policy Research Division Working Papers No. 195.Google Scholar
Vohra, S. (2003) The practice of dowry from the context of Hinduism. Critical Half 1(1), 33–35.Google Scholar
Waheed, A. (2009) Dowry among Indian Muslims: ideals and practices. Indian Journal of Gender Studies 16(1), 47–75.10.1177/097152150801600103Google Scholar
Xaxa, V. (2004) Women and gender in the study of tribes in India. Indian Journal of Gender Studies 11(3), 345–367.Google Scholar