social evils
There is wide cross-cultural variation in the social rules governing the selection of a partner for marriage. There is variation in the degree to which partner selection is an individual decision by the partners or a collective decision by the partners' kin groups, and there is variation in the rules regulating which partners are valid choices.
The United Nations World Fertility Report of 2003 reports that 89% of all people get married before age forty-nine.[49] The percent of women and men who marry before age forty-nine drops to nearly 50% in some nations and reaches 100% in other nations.[50]
In other cultures with less strict rules governing the groups from which a partner can be chosen the selection of a marriage partner may involve either the couple going through a selection process of courtship or the marriage may be arranged by the couple's parents or an outside party, a matchmaker.A dowry is "a process whereby parental property is distributed to a daughter at her marriage (i.e. inter vivos) rather than at the holder's death (mortis causa)… A dowry establishes some variety of conjugal fund, the nature of which may vary widely. This fund ensures her support (or endowment) in widowhood and eventually goes to provide for her sons and daughters."[75]
In some cultures, especially in South Asia, in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, dowries continue to be expected. In India, nearly 7,000 women were killed in 2001 over dowries,[76] and activists believe that figures represent a third of the actual number of such murders.[77] Dowry related violence is a problem in several places (see dowry deaths), and, in response to violent incidents regarding the practice, several jurisdictions have enacted laws restricting or banning dowry (see Dowry law in India). In Nepal, dowry has been made illegal in 2009.[78] Many authors believe that the giving and receiving of dowry reflects the status and even the effort to climb high in social
The United Nations World Fertility Report of 2003 reports that 89% of all people get married before age forty-nine.[49] The percent of women and men who marry before age forty-nine drops to nearly 50% in some nations and reaches 100% in other nations.[50]
In other cultures with less strict rules governing the groups from which a partner can be chosen the selection of a marriage partner may involve either the couple going through a selection process of courtship or the marriage may be arranged by the couple's parents or an outside party, a matchmaker.A dowry is "a process whereby parental property is distributed to a daughter at her marriage (i.e. inter vivos) rather than at the holder's death (mortis causa)… A dowry establishes some variety of conjugal fund, the nature of which may vary widely. This fund ensures her support (or endowment) in widowhood and eventually goes to provide for her sons and daughters."[75]
In some cultures, especially in South Asia, in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, dowries continue to be expected. In India, nearly 7,000 women were killed in 2001 over dowries,[76] and activists believe that figures represent a third of the actual number of such murders.[77] Dowry related violence is a problem in several places (see dowry deaths), and, in response to violent incidents regarding the practice, several jurisdictions have enacted laws restricting or banning dowry (see Dowry law in India). In Nepal, dowry has been made illegal in 2009.[78] Many authors believe that the giving and receiving of dowry reflects the status and even the effort to climb high in social