Dowry, the Oppression of Women and Femicide in Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v13i1.161Keywords:
dowry, oppression of women, femicide, BangladeshAbstract
The marriage transaction, commonly known as dowry, is a widespread phenomenon in Bangladesh, which has inevitably attracted much attention from social science researchers. This has transformed bride wealth marriages to dowry marriages in Bangladeshi society. A dowry is what the groom’s side demands in cash and kind from the bride’s side to complete the marriage. It is a major cause of women’s oppression, which starts from diversified psychological and physical torture that finally turns into femicide. The main objective of this paper is to analyse women’s oppression because of the dowry practice through marriage as a social problem in Bangladesh. This paper also explains the various dimensions of this problem, its multiple functions in women’s oppression, the nature of oppression in its various stages before femicide and the nature of femicide. The paper draws on secondary data from Bangladesh. It is observed that women in Bangladesh are physically, psychologically and socially oppressed by their husband and his family members in many ways because of the dowry. The nature of oppression is diverse in form, but ultimately these oppressions turn into femicide. The nature of femicide is also diverse, and some fire-related deaths and the suicides of young married women are also believed to be related to dowry.
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Roy, R. D. (1992). ‘Battered Spouse Syndrome: Violence against Women in Marriage’, Dhaka: Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC.
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Ain o Salish Kendra – ASK (2018). [A Legal Aid and Human Rights Organization in Bangladesh], website: http://www.askbd.org/ask/category/hr-monitoring/violence-against-women-statistics/dowry-related-violence/page/1-2/ (access date: 13 February 2018).
Ameen, N. (1997). ‘Dowry in Bangladesh: How many more Deaths to its End?’ The Dhaka University Studies, Part F, vol. VIII, no. 1, pp. 125-155.
Amin, S., & Cain, M. T. (1997). “The rise of dowry in Bangladesh,” in The Continuing Demographic Transition, G. W. Jones et al. (Eds.), Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, pp. 290-306.
Amin, S., Selim, N., & Waiz, N. K. (2006). Causes and consequences of early mar-riage in Bangladesh: Background report for workshop on programs and policies to prevent early marriage. Dhaka: Population Council.
Amin, S., & Suran, L. (2005). The impact of marriage payment on lei¬sure, housework and abuse of young wives: Some evidence from rural Bangladesh. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia.
AUCAS (2013). Femicide: A Global Issue That Demands Action, Claire Laurent, Michael Platzer and Maria Idomir et al., the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office.
Banerjee, K. (1999). ‘Gender Stratification and the Contemporary Marriage Market in India’, Journal of Family Issues, Sept. 1999, 20(5), pp. 648-676.
BBS (2013). Violence Against Women Survey 2011. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics-BBS, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Begum, A. (2014). ‘Dowry in Bangladesh: A search from an international perspective for an effective legal approach to mitigate women’s experiences. Journal of International Women's Studies, 15(2), pp. 249-267.
Bhat, P. N., Halli, M., & Halli, S. S. (1999). “Demography of brideprice and dowry: Causes and consequences of the Indian marriage squeeze,” Population Studies, 53(2): pp. 129-148.
Brown, P. (2002). Dowry and intra-household bargaining: Evidence from China (Working paper no. 608). William Davidson Institute, Michigan Business School.
Caldwell, J.C., Reddy, P., & Caldwell, P. (1983). “The causes of marriage change in South India,” Population Studies, 37: pp. 343-361.
Chowdhury, F. D. (2010). ‘Dowry, Women, and Law in Bangladesh’ International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 24(2), pp. 198–221.
Geirbo, H. C., & Imam, N. (2006). “The Motivation Behind Giving and Taking Dowry”. Research Monograph Series No. 28, BRAC, Research and Evaluation Division.
Hartmann, B., & Boyce, J. (1983). A Quiet Violence: View from a Bangladesh Village, London: Zed Press.
Hossain, K. T. (2007). ‘Violence against Women in Bangladesh’, in the Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference of Hong Kong Sociological Association, C. S. Keung, H. Traver & L. Xiuguo (Eds.), Narratives and Perspectives in Sociology: Understanding the Past, Envisaging the Future. pp. 257-264.
Huda, S. (2006). ‘Dowry in Bangladesh: Compromising Women's Rights," South Asia Research, 26(2006), pp. 249-268.
Jahan, R. (1994). ‘Hidden Danger: Women and Family Violence in Bangladesh, Dhaka: Women for Women.
Johnston, H. B., & Naved, R. T. (2008). ‘Spousal Violence in Bangladesh: A Call for a Public-health Response’, J Health Popul Nutr, 26(3), pp. 366-377.
Kamruzzaman, M., & Rahman, A. M. (2009). ‘Dowry related violence against women in Bangladesh’, Empowerment, Journal of Women for Women.
Kamruzzaman, M. (2015). ‘Dowry Related Violence Against Rural Women in Bangladesh, American Journal of Psychology and Cognitive Science, 1(4), 2015, pp. 112-116
Kishwar, M. (2002). Off the beaten track - rethinking gender justice for Indian women. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Lindenbaum, S. (1981). ‘Implications for women of changing marriage transactions in Bangladesh’. Studies in Family Planning, 12, pp. 394-401.
Monsoor, T. (2003). ‘Dower and dowry: Its affect on the empowerment of Muslim women’, Star Law Analysis, The Daily Star, July 27.
Monsoor, T. (2003). ‘Dowry Problem in Bangladesh: Legal and Socio-Cultural Perspectives’, The Dhaka University Studies, Part-F, vol. XIV, no. 1, pp.1-16.
Monsoor, T. (2008). Gender Equity and Economic Empowerment: Family Law and Women in Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh: British Council.
Naved, R. T., & Persson, L. A. (2010). ‘Dowry and Spousal Physical Violence Against Women in Bangladesh’, Journal of Family Issues XX(X), Sage Publication, pp. 1–27.
Nithya, N. R. (2013) ‘Institutionalization of Dowry in India: Social Custom or Modern Malaise?’ International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), India Online, Volume 2 Issue 9, September 2013, www.ijsr.net, visited on 9 September 2017.
Odhikar (2018) [A human Rights Organization in Bangladesh], website: http://odhikar.org. http://odhikar.org/statistics/statistics-on-violence-against-women/ (access date: 14 February 2018).
Oldenburg, V. T. (2002). Dowry murder - the imperial origins of a cultural crime. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Rahman, S., & Khanam, W. (2008). ‘Violence Against Women in Bangladesh: A Sociological Analysis’, in seminar volume on: Globalization, Patriarchy and Women Oppression: Bangladesh perspective, In S. Rahman & W. Khanam (Eds.), FWCA Rajshahi, pp. 38-51.
Rao, V. (1993). “Dowry 'inflation' in rural India: A statistical investigation”, Population Studies, 47(2): pp. 283-293.
Risley, H. (1915). The people of India. Delhi, India: Oriental Books.
Roy, R. D. (1992). ‘Battered Spouse Syndrome: Violence against Women in Marriage’, Dhaka: Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC.
Rozario, S. (2001). Purity and communal boundaries: Women and social change in a Bangladeshi village. Dhaka: The University Press Limited.
Schuler, S. R., Hashemi, S. M., & Badal, S. H. (1998). ‘Man’s Violence against Women in Bangladesh: Undermined or Exacerbated by Microcredit Programmes?’ Development in Practice, 8(2), pp. 148-157.
Sharma, U. (1980). Women, work and property in North-West India. London: Tavistock.
Siddiqi, D. M. (2002). ‘Dowry: Ancient custom or modern malaise?’ Dhaka: The Daily Star, 19 February 2002.
Srinivas, M. N. (1984). Some Reflections on Dowry, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
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, The Population Council, Inc.
Taher, M. A, Islam, M. R., Chowdhury, M. A. M., & Siddiqua, S. (2014). ‘Combating Dowry Violence against Women in Bangladesh: A Critical Study’ International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, 8(3), pp. 1126-1131.
UNECE (2010). Interviewer’s manual: Violence against Women Survey using the UNECE VAW Module. Retrieved July 23, 2014 from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe: http://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/download/attachments/24117336/VAW+module+Intervi ewer%27s+Manual+%282+March+2011%29.doc?version=1
White, S. C. (1992). Arguing with the crocodile: Class and gender hierarchies in a Bangladeshi village. Dhaka: University Press Limited.
White, S. C. (2017). ‘Patriarchal Investments: Marriage, Dowry and the Political Economy of Development in Bangladesh’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 47(2), pp: 247–272.
WHO (2012). Understanding and addressing violence against women, http://www.who.int/about/licensing/copyright_form/en/index.html). Downloaded, 20.09.2017.
Zaman, H. (1999). ‘Violence against Women in Bangladesh: Issues and Responses’, Women’s Studies International Forum, 22(1): pp. 37-48.
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Published
2018-07-25
How to Cite
Rahman, M. S. (2018). Dowry, the Oppression of Women and Femicide in Bangladesh. Journal of Comparative Social Work, 13(1), 103–123. https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v13i1.161
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