While the developed world fights for women’s right to be topless, to free the nipple and to grow armpit hair, the women in underdeveloped and developing countries constantly become victims of extreme gender inequalities and violence. For instance, girls and women going through menstruation in some Nepali communities are required to stay in caves and cow-sheds. Other problems such as forced labor, unequal education, employment opportunities and rapes are rampant all over the world. Although countries boast of their global awareness, a very small proportion of the developed population is familiar with such gender inequalities. A widely ignored problem is dowry system and the various issues related to it.
Dowry system is commonly practiced in some Indian and Nepali communities. It's a cultural practice that requires a bride’s family to fulfill all the “negotiated” demands of the groom’s family before the wedding. The demands may include cash, ornaments, land, buildings and even furniture. Although the tradition shows the male superiority that exists in these societies, the consequences are far worse than what seems like girls’ trade.
An important factor associated with the issue is education. Dowry is common, especially among illiterate people who believe that daughters are someone else’s properties and, thus, should not be invested more in. They usually don't send their daughters to school. Instead, they teach them household works from a very early age. In addition, they want to get their daughters married at the earliest age possible so that they don't have to worry about dowry for long. Such early-age brides suffer from reproductive health problems. However, some people have gradually come to realize the importance of education and that they have to pay less dowry for their educated daughters.
The inability of a family to fulfill the groom’s demands have serious consequences. The immediate effect can be seen in the wedding cancellations, leading to suicides of the bride and her immediate family members. If the wedding occurs under some conditions, the family’s failure to pay the dowry later leads to physical and psychological tortures to the bride by her in-law’s family. The bride has to constantly face harassment and death threats, and when she can no longer take them, she commits or tries to commit suicide.
Despite several laws and regulations, dowry still remains unchecked, and the governments seem to have failed in successfully enforcing the law. It's now the time we should all be informed of such practices, because they hold no place in today’s society where the world is fighting and and every form of injustice.
