4 reasons why the dowry system is horrible

The "Textbook of Sociology for Nurses'', penned by senior author TK Indrani has stirred a controversy which in a way is unforgivable. The book that has been circulated in a nursing school, lists the merits of dowry stooping to the level of saying that parents can get their “ugly and disabled daughters married” with the help of dowry. We bring to you 4 reasons why dowry must never be encouraged, no matter how rich or poor you are.

Asking for dowry is not just about asking for money. It is not just a materialistic evil, it is also a source of abuse for the bride who is leaving her house to be with a little or completely unknown family. Brides who give dowry once, fall into a vicious circle of giving something at every occasion and those who cannot afford to give anything, are subjected to torture. In many places, even in literate houses, they are physically abused, thrown acid on or even set on fire. In India there have been thousands of such cases over the years.

In order to avoid large dowries, many families marry their daughters off in their childhood. More than 700 million women have been married off when they were teenagers. According to the anti-child marriage nonprofit Girls Not Brides, this number is expected to rise to 1.2 billion by 2050. The younger the girl, her dowry price is lower. This helps families save money and they do not even have to send her to school.

Because of the dowry system, women are seen as a burden and this leads to female foeticide or infanticide. This further leads to gender inequality. In India, there are 914 girls for every 1000 boys in the 0-6 age group, as per 2011 census data, as reported by globalcitizen website.

As per a Nursing school’s textbook where a list of “advantages of dowry” have been listed out, the “system of dowry is good for society and argued that it helps parents of "ugly looking girls" to get them married. This is a classic example of discrimination against women and how judgmental and ridiculous the society can get.

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