Practical Steps towards Eliminating Dowry and Bride-Burning in India
![handle is hein.journals/tulicl13 and id is 311 raw text is: Practical Steps Towards Eliminating Dowry and
Bride-Burning in India
Puma Manchandia'
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 306
II. EVOLUTION OF THE DOWRY MARRIAGE SYSTEM ............................ 310
A. TraditionalDowry Custom ..................................................... 310
B. Modem Dowry Custom .......................................................... 312
III. CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF TI MODERN DOWRY SYSTEM ............... 313
IV INDIA' s LAWS PROHIBITING DOWRY ................................................ 317
V THE INEFFECTUALITY OF INDIA'S DOWRY LAWS ............................. 319
VI. WHY DOWRY AND DOWRY-CRIMES HAVE IMMIGRATED TO
CERTAIN COUNTRIES AND NOT OTHERS .......................................... 322
A . United States ........................................................................... 322
B . B u 'ta7 ...................................................................................... 324
C South A fica ............................................................................ 325
VII. REMEDIES FOR DOWRY AND DOWRY-RELATED VIOLENCE .............. 328
A. A National Response .............................................................. 328
B. An IntemationalResponse ..................................................... 329
VIM C ONCLUSION .................................................................................... 330
Her father protects [her] in childhood, her husband protects [her] in youth,
and her sons protect [her] in old age; a woman is never fit for
independence.
-The Laws of Manu (200 A.D.)'
* J.D. candidate 2005, Tulane University School of Law; B.A. International Relations
2000, University of Southern California. The author would like to thank her friends for providing
just enough distraction. The author would also like to thank her family for providing just enough
focus.
1. VEENA TALwAR OLDENBURG, DOWRY MURDER: THE IMPERIAL ORIGINS OF A
CULTURAL CRIME 20 (2002). Hindu law is based upon the Manusmriti or The Laws of Manu
of which Manu is the author. Archana Sridhar, The Conflict Between Communal Religious
Freedom and Women Equality A Proposal for the Reform of the Hindu Succession Act of
1956, 20 BERKELEY J. INT'L L. 555, 557 (2002). According to the Manusmriti, a woman must
obey and honor her husband. Judith G. Greenberg, Symposium: Criminalizing Dowry Deaths.
The Indian Experience, 11 AM. U.J. GENDER SOC. PoCY & L. 801, 822 (2003) (A woman who
treated her husband with disrespect would suffer in eternity. Her religious duty in this life was](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/tulicl13&div=12&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Practical Steps towards Eliminating Dowry and Bride-Burning in India
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