A Price on Her Life: Dowry, Violence Against Women...

Summary

• The Qur’an establishes a woman’s right to receive her marital entitlement; it does not establish a right for the groom or his family to demand vehicles, jewellery, furniture or cash from her parents.
• A daughter’s inheritance is not a favour that her family may replace with wedding gifts at its discretion.
• Dowry and inheritance are separate matters, and marriage does not erase a woman’s right to inherit.

AI Generated Summary

A woman should not have to bring gold, furniture, a car or a house into a marriage to be treated with dignity. Yet, in too many families, a bride’s worth is measured by what she brings with her. What begins as a wedding custom can become a financial demand, and what begins as a demand can turn into humiliation, abuse and even death.

When a woman is taunted because her parents cannot afford expensive gifts, or when her family is forced into debt to satisfy her in-laws, we must stop calling it tradition. It is coercion. When that coercion leads to violence, it is a matter of public justice, not a private family dispute.

Pakistan has attempted to regulate dowry for decades. The West Pakistan Dowry and Bridal Gifts (Restriction) Act, 1967, was an early legislative effort. It was followed by the Dowry and Bridal Gifts (Restriction) Act, 1976, which repealed the earlier legislation and established a framework across Pakistan. Amended in 1980, the law restricted dowry, bridal gifts and marriage expenditure. Section 5 provides that dowry and bridal gifts given to the bride vest absolutely in her. Yet, decades later, the expectation that a bride’s family must provide wealth to secure a marriage remains deeply entrenched.

The problem is not simply that the law has failed to regulate wedding expenditure. It is that regulation has not dismantled the belief that a woman’s family owes the groom’s family a financial contribution. Pakistan must ask whether anyone should be allowed to demand wealth as a condition of marriage.

The religious argument is equally important because dowry is often defended in the name of culture, family honour and tradition. But culture and religion are not interchangeable. A practice does not become Islamic merely because society has accepted it.