The practice of dowery is a heinous stain on society. A short while ago, I penned an article on this topic, saying that this problem is a social sickness. Even though its actual goals have not changed, it is spreading and altering its nature. Its appearance constantly shiftsover time. It is necessary to eradicate it everywhere before it may cause further suffering and social strife. Dowries are no longer customary in any socioeconomic strata; even among the wealthy, this practice has been growing at an alarming rate. Dowries have replaced wedding presents. Dowry prevents women from advancing their careers and leads to the disparity of the sexes. Superstition, inequality of class, ignorance, harsh religious dogmatism, and economic enslavement keep Bengali girls in a state of servitude. The dowry system needs to be eradicated. Otherwise, civilisation will fall into disrepair. This terrible ailment can be cured only when the people who live in society have healthy mentalities, the ability to think freely and have positive attitudes, an aesthetic consciousness, and the right values and culture. This article focuses on how the dowry system in society acts as a barrier to women’s empowerment.
Girls in India have long endured humiliation and harassment for social and economic reasons. However, this practice was not limited to India but extended to most of the developed countries in the history of paying between families in the marriage system and is now widespread in the developing world. The issue of sexual harassment of girls was as prevalent in the Asian system. Like the Hindu marriage system in India, these payments (dowries) were thought to have a significant impact on the welfare of women and the distribution of wealth in society. Even the ancient civilisations of the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hebrew, and Incas around 3000 BC used the ritual around wedding ceremonies. The Germans have ruled Western Europe for a long time,and since 2000 BC, managing customs to legitimise their marriages and social recognition was a different matter. In classical China, the bride had to be valued for the legitimacy of the marriage, and the customary practice of such marriages continues to this day as the norm in many rural areas of China. This custom is still practiced in many Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Pricing and paying for the bride are among the most common wedding cultures in Africa; In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 90 percent of society still traditionally sees paying taxes on such marriages as a blessing to the family and community.Although this practice exists in many communities worldwide, its context is quite different;its purpose is rooted in the welfare of the family. The whole matter is seen as a voluntary arrangement and is within the provider’s reach. Moreover, women are treated with respect in society. But in our country, dowry has become a social disease due to various backward social values.
This sickness of Joutuk (dowry) has infected every aspect of society, and no rule can stop it from spreading further. A societal revolution based on self-respect, human values, love, equality and fairness for women and morality is required if we will ever successfully permanently eradicate this problem. A dowry is considered a social requirement for many people, like items available for purchase on the open market. The size of the dowry, on the other hand, is directly proportional to the financial standing of the groom’s family. A bride’s dowry is determined in part by the social and economic status of the bridegroom’s family and in part by the quality of the groom. In today’s marriages, the dowry is not given as a sign of selflessness or as a part of a ritual that is held in high regard. Instead, the family of the bride is expected to foot the bill. In the context of economics, marriage is viewed as a mechanism via which the groom can get material benefits from the bride’s family.
In the Hindu marriage system, the prospective husband’s family always makes the final decision regarding the selection of the bride for a suitable match (Of course, this is not the norm in modern educated metropolitan families with a degree of personal freedom and choice). This decision is based on several factors, including the bride’s age, colour, clan, lineage, socioeconomic background, education, manners, and ability to perform domestic labour (such as cooking, cleaning, and giving birth), among other things. After all of this, the couple’s family members make the final decision of whether or not to marry. When a daughter gets married, she is expected to move in with her husband’s family. This is one of the more pervasive cultural expectations. Is this situation less upsetting for the women in our society?On the other hand, after the couple is married, the husband’s family is the legal owner of the bride’s earnings from the labour market and her family’s talents. Next, the mother or father-in-law determines whether the household money should be spent or put away in the savings account. When it comes to marriage in our society, there are still certain aspects to consider, such as the fact that women are expected to get married at an early age and that the groom’s family is given responsibility for the bride’s belongings and financial matters.
Dowry is a widespread practice in more than a dozen countries of the world. In almost all cases, the practice directly or indirectly oppresses women, and often this leads to abuse and violence. This dowry kills more than 6,000 women every year in neighbouring India. Sometimes a woman is killed by her husband or in-laws when her family cannot deliver the requested dowry gift.In many cases, women commit suicide by being harassed and tortured for not being able to pay the dowry. Husbands or in-laws often throw acid on women or burn them to death-moreover, the possibility of child marriage due to dowry. Worldwide, more than 70 million underage girls are currently engaged to be married. That number is expected to rise to 1.2 billion in the next 30 years; according to the anti-child marriage incident, Girls Not Brides, India has the highest number of child brides worldwide, and the dowry system partly drives this phenomenon. The younger a girl is, the lower her dowry will usually be, so families marry off their daughters at an early age to save money.Moreover, to keep the dowry price low, families also prevent girls from going to school. For most families in our society, going to a girl’s school is a waste, and girls are kept at home to do housework to train them to be better housewives rather than education.
In Bangladesh, dowry-related violence claimed the lives of 325 individuals in 2001, while more than 7,000 people were tortured due to dowry-related harassment. However, this is not an actual picture. Due to the high cost of the legal system, some individuals in Bangladesh choose not to pursue justice out of concern that they would be subjected to revenge and other forms of physical or mental abuse at the hands of their spouse’s family members. A desk survey that Prothom Alo conducted discovered that each year in Dhaka, 22 women are murdered. According to court data in Dhaka, 364 women were killed in the city for dowry-related reasons between 2002 and 2019. During the same period, 3202 married women were killed, as well as 231 who committed suicide in the country. In addition, there were 227 suicides, including 3169 deaths of underage girls. The average number of deaths of women due to dowry is more than 201 every year.
The fact that it perpetuates gender inequality is the component of dowry that I find the most disturbing. By considering women as property, the dowry system dehumanises them and reduces them to the status of objects that can be traded. The groom’s family is responsible for the care of the bride, and the groom’s family compensates for the bride’s family. Instead of receiving the respect they deserve, females are reduced to the status of second-class citizens as a result of this. Because of the perception that women will place a financial burden on their families, many parents have aborted their daughters or killed them after birth. This results in the ongoing devaluation of women and a significant gap between the sexes. Throughout history, the practice morphed into a system that favoured men’s supremacy and wives’ dependency. The practice of dowry frequently compels low-income families to take out loans with high-interest rates, sell their land to obtain money, promise dowry in instalments, and engage in various other activities that might result in shaky financial arrangements that lead to debt. In addition, dower exacerbates the existing class structure. The demand for a large dowry by wealthy families virtually eliminates any possibility of a marriage proposal from lower-income households. Polygamy is an everyday occurrence in Bangladesh as a direct result of dowry systems, which are among the root causes of many forms of violence, including sexual assault, homicide, and other forms of violence, as well as underage marriages. From the early 1960s until now, dowry has been regarded as a primary source of violence against women. This trend continues today. The practice of not paying dowry or paying only a portion of it is a common reason for the harassment and divorce of women.
Suppose society wants to empower women and make genuine advancements in society. In that case,paying a dowry must be eliminated since it is a severe societal problem and a deadly virus. My conviction is unwavering that the only path to genuine progress and development in any community is the one that prioritises women’s empowerment. Despite the undeniable fact that our nation is making enormous strides forward economically, now is the time for every one of us to demonstrate our dedication to eliminating this dangerous illness from our culture.

The Writer is Educator, author, and researcher and Executive Chair, Centre for Business & Economic Research, UK