Is Dowry Legal
India, where dowry is most common, has one of the lowest rates of women`s participation in the labour market in the world. This is partly because the dowry promotes the idea that a woman is taken care of by her husband`s family and that she should not earn an outside income. It is even sometimes considered an affront when a woman, after paying a dowry, decides to pursue a career. They calculated the “net dowry” as the difference between the value of the gifts that the bride`s family gave to the groom or his family and those that the groom`s family gave to the bride`s family. The groom`s family had paid more to the bride`s family in a very small number of marriages. Women who are unable to pay the expected price of the dowry or who are unable to make additional payments in the future are often victims of harassment and abuse. At other times, husbands or in-laws throw acid at a woman or set her on fire. In sparsely populated areas where agriculture is itinerant, most of the work is done by women. It is the companies that give the price of the bride. Boserup also combined the relocation of horticulture with the practice of polygamy, and so Bridewealth was paid as compensation to his family for the loss of his job. In plough farming, agriculture is largely the work of men; here the dowry is given. [14] In contrast, plough farming is associated with private property and marriage tends to be monogamous in order to keep ownership within the nuclear family.
Close family members are the preferred spouses to keep the property within the group. [15] But no dowry. The subtext of “social evil” when it comes to dowry is often “social necessity.” Dowry was common in various historical periods of China and has continued throughout modern history. Locally called “嫁妝 “Jiàzhuāng”, the dowry ranged from land, jewelry, money to a collection of clothing, sewing equipment and household goods collection. Mann[17] and others[49][50][51] note that dowry was a form of inheritance to daughters. In traditional China, ownership of a family, if any, was intended only for equal division or inheritance by sons. The dowry was the only way to transfer assets to a subsidiary. It included real estate such as land and movable property such as jewellery and fine clothing. The dowry she brought with her was usually confiscated from the property of her husband and other male members of a common family. She often sold this property for money to overcome the economic difficulties or needs of her children and her husband. In some cases, she can transfer the property she brought as a dowry to her daughter or daughter-in-law. Once transferred, the dowry was in turn a separate asset from the woman receiving it (sifang qian, etc.).
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