Bride buying in India is the practice of forced arranged marriages through human trafficking. Brides are commonly referred to as "paro" (from the far side) or "molki" (one who has a price) within this framework. The brides are sold by their parents to human traffickers who transport and sell them within relatively wealthier regions of Northern India. The desire for a male child and subsequent female infanticide has resulted in a significantly lowered sex ratio within India, creating an abundance of unmarried men in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Western UP. These men resort to purchasing inter-region women from impoverished communities mainly to continue their family lineage. The key motivation for low-income families to sell their daughter is to receive financial compensation and avoid having to pay a dowry. Major sources are the impoverished parts of Northeast India (Assam), Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Progressive panchayats, khaps, and activists have been lobbying the government for the protection of the legal rights of molki brides by mandatory marriage registration and for the extension of government benefits of inter-caste marriages. [4] [7]
Brides are usually women from impoverished areas, some reported to be as young as ten years old. Women are often motivated to escape undesirable economic situations. There have been reports of manipulation and abductions [6] by traffickers who promise higher standards of living and wages in wealthier areas.
Women are sold at prices based on physical appearance such as health, age, beauty, and virginity. The prices range from 5,000 rupees ($70 USD) to 40,000 rupees ($550 USD). [8] For the bride, marriage often means the end of their agency, freedom of movement, and access to education [9] as traditional gender roles require maintenance of the marital home and caregiving of her in-laws. Due to the physical and mental underdevelopment of most brides, they are susceptible to serious health problems arising in pregnancy and childbirth; the leading cause of death among women aged 15–19 in India and other developing countries. [10]
Despite undergoing traditional marriage rituals, trafficked brides struggle to be fully accepted in the community and regularly face discrimination due to the ambiguity regarding their marital status and are deprived of property rights. [11]
Bride shortages have seen re-emergence of fraternal polyandry where one woman is shared with brother(s) of the husband. [12] Karewa (widow remarriage) refers to the practice of marrying off the bride to the brother (or sometimes the father) of a deceased husband. [13]
According to the research sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy at Delhi, the Molki brides are arranged for marriage in 4 ways: Brides acting as marriage mediators, husbands of molki brides arranging brides for family and friends, marriage brokers also known as Dalals, and trafficking of women for forced marriages though this is not as prevalent. [4] Molki brides face color discrimination, racism, slurs, social isolation, and related mental health issues. [4] Among molki brides, cases of those who are trafficked are rarely reported and they find it difficult to obtain justice. [3] Families of trafficked women often do not report it to the police because many people believe it to be the solution to the skewed sex ratio in India. [3]
For the men of backward castes like Jats, Rors, Ahirs, and Yadavs there is a severe shortage of women. Rich men can easily find a local bride within their caste; however the disadvantaged men in these castes, who are mostly poor and do not own land, are the ones who must seek a bride using alternative methods. This phenomenon has now spread to lower castes and Indian Muslim communities. [4] [7]
In India, feticide, infanticide, and deliberate neglect of female children [14] helped cause the sex ratio imbalance. Preference for a son stems from centuries-old patriarchal traditions which view women as financial burdens in a culture where property is passed down the male lineage and dowry expenses are expected to be paid by the bride's family. [15] Despite the prevalence of the dowry system across all castes and regions in India, [16] un-wealthy men who cannot find a bride are willing to pay for a bride from an improvised background. [11]
Impoverished families tend to be more vulnerable to selling their daughters for money, some of whom are led to believe their daughter is married to a wealthier man in a faraway place. Victim's families tend to be unaware that middleman resell their daughters to other states for a profit. [3] Due to the dowry system in India, the bride's family gives durable goods, cash, and natural or movable property to the bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives as a condition of the marriage. [17] Due to India's skewed inheritance laws, the Hindu Succession Act needed to be amended to stop the routine disinheritance of daughters. [18]
The Constitution of India prohibits all forms of trafficking under Article 23(1), which states that "Traffic in human beings and begar [sic] and other similar forms of forced labor are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with the law." [19] However, India has yet to implement comprehensive laws prohibiting the practice of bride trafficking. Despite explicit references to trafficking in the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, it pertains only to commercial sexual activities in brothels and public places. [20] The law conflates prostitution and forced sexual exploitation, but fails to distinguish between the victims and perpetrators of the crime.
While bride trafficking is not explicitly prohibited in Indian law, it does criminalize many aspects of the practice in statutes. The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 provides the legal age of marriage is 21 for males and 18 for females. [21] On 11 December 1992, India signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child subsequently passing the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, which was replaced by an act of the same name in 2015. The act protects children who have been sexually exploited or are at risk of sexual exploitation, [22] but limits the definition of child as "a person who has not completed eighteen years of age." [23] The Act covers only some of the victims of sexual exploitation but it fails to account for those over the age of 18.
India is a member of human rights conventions which explicitly prohibit forced marriage, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979 (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC). The government of India passed domestic legislation in light of its international commitments such as the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006. Article 16(1)(b) of CEDAW states that women have "the same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent." [24] By contrast, the CRC does not explicitly refer to child-marriage, but it does have numerous provisions that discuss such topics. These include article 19 which states that a child has "the right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents, guardian or any other person", [25] and article 34 which provides for "the right to protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse." [26]
In the latest Concluding Observations on India (2014) [27] the CEDAW recommended India amend the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act to include provisions that prevent trafficking of women, [28] address the root causes of trafficking, [29] ensure that traffickers are effectively investigated and prosecuted, [30] and ensure victims of trafficking have access to victim support and witness protection. [31]
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The parents who sell their daughters as molki brides are usually from the lower socioeconomic strata of the under-developed or economically marginalized regions and states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal. [2] [3] [4] [6]
The destination states are generally prosperous North Indian provinces where the sex ratio is more imbalanced. Some of the common destination states are Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Western Uttar Pradesh. [2] [3] [4]
A 2019 survey by Jind based Selfie-With-Daughter Foundation found 130,000 molki brides in Haryana. [7] Among them, 1470 such brides "looted and scooted from their in-laws' house with valuables and expensive items," [7] indicating a phenomenon of criminal gangs engaging in the organized practice. Molki bride practice, which started from the Ahirwal and Mewat region in the 1980s, is now common in Rohtak, Jind, Hisar, Kaithal, Yamunanagar, and Kurukshetra. [7] [2]
Haryana, one of the wealthiest states in India with the third-highest per capita income in 2014-2015 [32] of 147,076 rupees (USD 2,293), is a destination state for the molki brides. [7] An unintended consequence of Haryana's economic development is the advancement of medical technology and accessibility of its health care system which offer prenatal screening to determine the sex of the fetus. This has created a paradoxical situation [33] where adverse sex ratio is perpetuated by parents routinely aborting female fetuses in favour of sons, contributing to the increase in demand for imported brides.
The Haryana government has taken several actions against female infanticide and gender discrimination, making them one of the most successful states in terms of improving sex ratio. [34] [35] [36] According to the 2011 Census of India, [37] there were 877 females to 1,000 males in Haryana against the national average of 933 females to 1000 males. [38] In 2019, due to various initiatives by the Government of Haryana the sex ratio has improved to 920 females births per 1000 male child. [7] This ratio saw an improvement in 2020, with SRB seeing a rise from 920 in 2019 to 922 in 2020. [39] While the cumulative SRB dipped from 922 to 911 in the first half of 2021, showcasing a setback in the "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" a flagship Programme, despite increase in raids and strict regulations on people practicing sex determination tests. [40]
Molki brides are often found in various districts of Rajasthan including Alwar and Jhunjhunu. [4]
The practice has also been recorded in Western Uttar Pradesh [2] which is a relatively affluent region of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Eastern Uttar Pradesh is one of the source of such brides.
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According to the research of 10 source villages in Odisha as well as 1,216 molki brides in 226 villages in destination states of Haryana and Rajasthan, sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and titled "Tied in a Knot — cross-region marriages in Haryana and Rajasthan, Implications for Gender Rights and Gender Relations", the molki brides face color discrimination due to usually being darker, caste discrimination, names calling such as "molki" (one who was bought for money), slurs like "Biharan" a term "that implies poverty, desperation, filth and savagery", judgmental attitudes towards their parents who are seen as "thieves, sellers of daughters and primitive savages", leading to their social isolation and mental health issues. [4]
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Advantages include social stratification in terms of socioeconomically disadvantaged men are able to find brides who also are disadvantaged, bride's poor family also receives money, breaking of orthodox social taboos by making inter-caste and inter-religion marriages socially acceptable and widespread. [2] [4] Some orthodox khaps, which might usually oppose inter-caste marriages, generally provide a silent acceptance of the practice of molki brides by maintaining a "studied silence". [4] Progressive panchayats and khaps have taken initiatives to champion the rights of molki brides by running campaign to make the marriage registration mandatory for these brides so that they and their children have the legal rights. [7] Activists have been demanded that the government must extend the benefits of inter-caste marriages to molki marriages as well. [4]
To address the nationwide issues of female infanticide, the government of India has passed the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994 which prohibits sex determination via prenatal screening. However, even if all discriminatory practices ceased it is estimated that it will take at least 50 years for the population to reach its natural sex ratio. [41]
In 2002, the Union Ministry of Child and Development launched the Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances (SWADHAR) to protect the welfare of vulnerable women. The initiative aims to assist victims of exploitation to lead their life with dignity and conviction. [42] SWADHAR has been implemented in Haryana since 2007. [43]
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana (translation: Save the daughter, educate the daughter) is a campaign of the Government of India that aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls. The scheme was launched with an initial funding of ₹100 crore (US$13 million). [44] It mainly targets the clusters in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Bihar and Delhi. [45] [46] Haryana is one of the most successful state in rapidly increasing sex ratio by taking stringent actions against female infanticide under this scheme. [34] [35] [36]
Under the scheme, Haryana which had the sex ratio of 834 females in 2012, and improved the female ratio to 914 in 2018 resulting in 17 of 21 districts having a sex ratio of above 900 female to 1000 males and only 4 districts having a sex ratio of between 875 and 900. [47] Some community development blocks have a newborn ratio of over 1000 females. For example: Ratia block, comprising 53 villages, had a yearly newborn ratio of 1003 females on 31 December 2018. [48] This SRB ratio saw an improvement in 2020, with SRB seeing a rise from 920 in 2019 to 922 in 2020. [39] While the cumulative SRB dipped from 922 to 911 in the first half of 2021, showcasing a setback in the "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" a flagship Programme, despite increase in raids and strict regulations on people practicing sex determination tests. [40]
In response to the prevalence of child marriages in India, the government has implemented conditional cash transfer schemes which periodically pay families in exchange for delaying their daughters’ marriage until the age of 18. [49] This initiative, known as Apni Beti Apna Dhan or "Our Daughters, Our Wealth", was launched in Haryana from 1994-1998 by the State Department of Women and Children Development. It offered 500 rupees ($8 USD) to families enrolled in the program, within 14 days of giving birth to a girl and a second payment of 25,000 rupees ($380 USD) on her 18th birthday provided she remained unmarried. [50] Its goal was to delay marriage until the age of 18, as required by law, and in doing so it hoped to increase the value of girls in society and extend their education. [51]
In 2012, as the first participants turned 18, a follow up assessment by International Centre for Research on Women showed that while enrolling in the program incentivized the parents to delay marrying off their daughters, financial incentives without other complementary interventions were inadequate to change the deeply entrenched gender roles and expectations on women. [52]
In June 2016, the Trafficking Persons (Prevention and Rehabilitation) Bill was published. It is envisioned as India's first comprehensive anti-trafficking law by consolidating all existing law on human trafficking. [53] India's current legal framework lacks coordination between district and state agencies which has prevented effective prosecution of offenders. The bill focuses on three key aspects of tracking: prevention, protection and rehabilitation of victims. [54] Despite this, the bill has been criticized for failing to provide a clear definition of trafficking and for its lack of clarity regarding rehabilitation measures. [53]
A 2016 report by FXB Centre for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University [55] into the Indian government's anti-trafficking initiatives revealed that the current approaches lack multi-faceted long-term commitment. They consist primarily of removal of victims from exploitative environments after which they are still exposed to the same structural vulnerabilities that led to their being trafficked originally, with the predictable outcome that many of them are re-trafficked. [56]
Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor that results in sexual activity, forced marriage and sex trafficking, such as the sexual trafficking of children.
Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of newborn female children. Female infanticide is prevalent in several nations such as China, India and Pakistan. It has been argued that the low status in which women are viewed in patriarchal societies creates a bias against females. The modern practice of gender-selective abortion is also used to regulate gender ratios.
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the time of recorded India's history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordination continued to be reified well into India's early modern period.
Bride burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. A form of dowry death, bride-burning occurs when a woman is murdered by her husband or his family for her family's refusal to pay additional dowry. The wife is typically doused with kerosene, gasoline, or other flammable liquid, and set alight, leading to death by burning. Kerosene is often used as the cooking fuel for small petrol stoves, some of which are dangerous, so it allows the claim that the crime was an accident. It is most common in India and has been a major problem there since at least 1993.
Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).
Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appear in international and humanitarian conventions, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but have been inconsistently applied. "Forced prostitution" refers to conditions of control over a person who is coerced by another to engage in sexual activity.
Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation.
Human trafficking in India, although illegal under Indian law, remains a significant problem. People are frequently illegally trafficked through India for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced/bonded labour. Although no reliable study of forced and bonded labour has been completed, NGOs estimate this problem affects 20 to 65 million Indians. Men, women and children are trafficked in India for diverse reasons. Women and girls are trafficked within the country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage, especially in those areas where the sex ratio is highly skewed in favour of men. Men and boys are trafficked for the purposes of labour, and may be sexually exploited by traffickers to serve as gigolos, massage experts, escorts, etc. A significant portion of children are subjected to forced labour as factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, and agriculture workers, and have been used as armed combatants by some terrorist and insurgent groups.
India has a very high volume of child trafficking. As many as one child disappears every eight minutes, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. In some cases, children are taken from their homes to be bought and sold in the market. In other cases, children are tricked into the hands of traffickers by being presented an opportunity for a job, when in reality, upon arrival they become enslaved. In India, there are many children trafficked for various reasons such as labor, begging, and sexual exploitation. Because of the nature of this crime, it is hard to track; due to the poor enforcement of laws, it is difficult to prevent. Due to the nature of this crime, it is only possible to have estimates of figures regarding the issue. India is a prime area for child trafficking to occur, as many of those trafficked are from, travel through or destined to go to India. Though most of the trafficking occurs within the country, there is also a significant number of children trafficked from Nepal and Bangladesh. There are many different causes that lead to child trafficking, with the primary reasons being poverty, weak law enforcement, and a lack of good quality public education. The traffickers that take advantage of children can be from another area in India, or could even know the child personally. Children who return home after being trafficked often face shame in their communities, rather than being welcomed home.
Human trafficking in Nepal is a growing criminal industry affecting multiple other countries beyond Nepal, primarily across Asia and the Middle East. Nepal is mainly a source country for men, women and children subjected to the forced labor and sex trafficking. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.
Iraq is both a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Iraqi women and girls, some as young as 11 years old, are subjected to conditions of human trafficking within the country and in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, and possibly Saudi Arabia for forced prostitution and sexual exploitation within households.
China is a main source and also a significant transit and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labour and forced prostitution. Women and children from China are trafficked to Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America, predominantly Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour. Women and children from Myanmar, Vietnam, Mongolia, former USSR, North Korea, Romania, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Ghana are trafficked to China for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour.
Bride buying or bride purchasing is the cultural practice of providing some form of payment in exchange for a bride. The payment may be made to the bride's father, family, or a separate agent. It is the converse of a dowry. Illegal in some countries, it has a firm foothold in parts of Asia and Africa. It may amount to a form of slavery when treated as a transfer of property from one "owner" to another.
Female foeticide in India is the abortion of a female foetus outside of legal methods. A research by Pew Research Center based on Union government data indicates foeticide of at least 9 million females in the years 2000–2019. The research found that 86.7% of these foeticides were by Hindus, followed by Sikhs with 4.9%, and Muslims with 6.6%. The research also indicated an overall decline in preference for sons in the time period.
Violence against women in India refers to physical or sexual violence committed against a woman, typically by a man. Common forms of violence against women in India include acts such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, and murder. There are several forms of violence against women, murder, female infanticide, sexual crimes, acid throwing, perpetuation.
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao is a campaign launched by the Government of India. It mainly targets the clusters in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Bihar and Delhi.
Gender inequality in Nepal refers to disparities and inequalities between men and women in Nepal, a landlocked country in South Asia. Gender inequality is defined as unequal treatment and opportunities due to perceived differences based solely on issues of gender. Gender inequality is a major barrier for human development worldwide as gender is a determinant for the basis of discrimination in various spheres such as health, education, political representation, and labor markets. Although Nepal is modernizing and gender roles are changing, the traditionally patriarchal society creates systematic barriers to gender equality.
Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.
Sex trafficking in Myanmar is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Myanmar is primarily a source and transit country for sexually trafficked persons.
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