(November 7, 2002) The Indian government has reported that an estimated 6,000 women a year die as a result of dowry abuse in India. Many more are maimed and injured. While these figures are shocking, they may only be the tip of the iceberg. Others have placed the number of dowry-related deaths closer to 25,000 a year.

Dowry refers to a marriage practice in Hindu society where gifts of cash or other valuable items are exchanged between the families of the bride and groom. Although its ancient meaning was to show respect, dowry has taken on a harmful form and meaning in recent times. Rather than a voluntary act, it is now treated as an essential condition for entering into marriage with the "gift-giving" unfairly one-sided.

It is only the groom's family that demands and receives a dowry before and sometimes even after a marriage has taken place. If these demands are unmet by the bride's family, the groom and his family sometimes are motivated to subject the bride to physical and psychological abuse. Dowry-related violence has taken the form of sex-selective abortion, female infanticide, rape, forced suicide, and homicide.

The widespread acceptance of dowry makes it difficult to abolish the practice. This is underscored by the fact that Hindu communities have continued the practice outside of India.

While the government has made legal efforts to abolish the practice, monitoring and enforcement remain difficult to enforce. However, organizations and individuals within India have begun questioning the so-called cultural norm of dowry and have taken actions to end its abuse.

By challenging the broader perceptions of women's role in society, they seek to increase the value placed on women's lives in an effort to end the practice of dowry which simultaneously reflects the status of women and girls in Indian society, while also reinforcing their oppression and discrimination.

Presents or privations?

Although the practice may differ among various communities, dowry is prevalent throughout India, cutting across socioeconomic classes.

The demand and payment for dowry usually takes place prior to a marriage. However, in some cases, a groom's family continues to demand dowry payments years after the marriage occurred.

The agreement between the families of the bride and groom over an acceptable dowry may be done through a mediator, or directly between the two families. Dowry often takes the form of cash, clothes, jewels, furniture, vehicles, and wedding or reception expenses.

In many cases, the word "dowry" may never actually be mentioned, but lavish gifts by the bride's family that are unreciprocated by the groom's family are often a silent indication that a dowry has been paid.

The dowry is often seen as the wife's financial contribution to a marriage since she is less likely to have paid employment. However, the assets are usually put in the groom's or his family's name.

In some cases, a dowry is treated as the wife's inheritance with the assets placed under her name. However, once she is married, the new bride may lose control over these assets. A dowry in no way substitutes for women's inheritance rights.

Although many believe that poverty is one of the factors that leads to demands for dowry, the fact that the practice is prevalent amongst middle- and upper-middle-class families points to other reasons such as a lack of employment opportunities for young men. This creates a reliance on dowry as a form of income.

While the benefits for the groom's family are obvious, the bride's family is also complicit in agreeing to pay a dowry, thereby perpetuating the practice. The social stigma for unmarried women compels many families to pay a dowry despite any misgivings.

And—even though in many cases dowry may be paid and the wife may never suffer any dowry-related abuse—the practice leaves women vulnerable to abuse.

Dowry-related violence

Dowry-related violence against women can occur before, during, and after marriage.

The heavy price of providing a dowry has proven to be a consideration for many families in their preference of sons over daughters. In the worst-case scenario, the issues and expenses related to dowry make a daughter an undesirable addition to her family, which sometimes leads to female infanticide and sex-selective abortion.

In 2000, the United Nations Population Fund reported that female infanticide in India had increased dramatically over the last decade. The infant mortality rate for female babies was 40 percent higher than that of male babies. While poverty was cited as the main reason, dowry was listed as second.

It is common for unsavory medical practitioners to highlight in their advertisements that 6,000 rupees (US$122) paid now to abort a female fetus is cheaper than paying an unimaginable sum later for a dowry. This leaves little doubt about the calculations made by parents in their decision to abort a female fetus.

Some women are driven to commit suicide when they realize that their parents cannot pay for a dowry, making their prospects for marriage slim. They are unable to face the social stigma against unmarried women in Indian society.

However, the most heinous forms of dowry abuse often occur after a women is married and has moved into her husband's or in-laws' house as is customary in many parts of India.

If the groom and his family find that dowry was not paid in full or believe it to be insufficient, they may take out their anger and frustration on the bride. In worst-case scenarios, the groom and his family may demand more dowry from the bride's family even years after the marriage, simply out of greed. In essence, their ability to harm the women is used as a means of blackmailing her family for money to ensure her safety.

The harassment against the bride can take the form of psychological and physical abuse such as confinement to the house, rape, and beatings. In some cases, a woman is even murdered by her husband or his family.

The most common form of dowry homicide is a phenomena known as "bride-burning," whereby the women is doused with kerosene and set ablaze. The murder is often made to look like a "kitchen accident" or a suicide. In some cases the mental and physical anguish to which a woman is subjected does indeed drive her to commit suicide.

Ending dowry and upholding women's rights

Despite a series of legal actions on the part of the government, the practice of giving, taking, and demanding dowry has remained in place.

According to the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, the punishment for giving or taking dowry is a prison term of "no less than five years and a fine which shall not be less than fifteen thousand rupees or the amount of the value of such dowry, whichever is more." The law excludes presents given to either the bride or groom "without any demand having been made." Punishment for demanding dowry also exists but is much less severe.

The realization that the Dowry Prohibition Act had little impact in changing attitudes and practices led to the creation of Dowry Prohibition Officers in 1986. Appointed by each individual state, these officers were to document, monitor, and enforce anti-dowry laws.

However, the number of dowry-related deaths attests to the fact that these legal remedies have failed to protect women from dowry abuse.

The social stigma against unmarried or divorced women continues to convince many families to give in to dowry demands, making it unlikely that they will seek legal redress.

For those that do take such cases to the court, the rate of acquittal is disheartening. A Frontline study reported that most dowry-related cases ended in acquittal for the groom. Out of 799 cases of dowry death, there was only one conviction.

To make any impact in abolishing the practice of dowry, the government must ensure better law enforcement and less impunity to men and families who commit such abuse.

One positive step is the emergence of greater opposition to dowry from within the Hindu community in response to the increase in dowry-related murders in the past decade.

There have been several recent initiatives that are addressing the issue, although they acknowledge that it will be difficult to implement change.

For example, the International Society Against Dowry Abuse and Bride-Burning in India (ISADABBI ) was created in 1993 to increase public awareness against the evil of dowry and bride-burning in India, to provide medical, legal, and judicial assistance to the victims of these crimes as well as to provide shelter, training, and rehabilitation services to victims.

ISADABBI is also hosting the Sixth International Conference on Dowry, Bride-Burning and Son-Preference from January 3-6, 2003 in New Delhi, India, in collaboration with Harvard University and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

The conference will be a forum for academic discussion and formulation of programs to combat the phenomena. While they have already created a six-point plan to abolish dowry, they plan to adopt a more detailed work-plan which they will present to the Indian government.

Another example is the "Say No to Dowry" Campaign that was launched at the Association for India's Development (AID) earlier this year. The "Say No to Dowry" Campaign asks individuals to make a pledge to not accept, demand, or give a dowry as any part of their own marriage. They hope that the campaign will create discussion and enable those opposed to dowry to take a stand against it.

In addition there are several initiatives such as the Women's Action Research and Legal Action for Women (WARLAW) that provides free legal assistance to dowry victims and the Lavanyamoyee Craft Center in Assam that runs programs to assist women in becoming more self-sufficient through skills-training thereby enabling women to leave homes were dowry abuse is occurring.

The hope is that the government and society can work together to end dowry-abuse.