Bride Price and the Well-Being of Women

Abstract

Bride price, a payment from the groom to the bride’s family at the time of marriage, is a common cultural practice in many African societies. We examine the relationship between the bride price amount and a range of outcomes using a sample of 317 couples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Motivated by common concerns associated with high bride price, we examine whether payment of a higher bride price is associated with earlier marriage and higher fertility; a greater acceptance of domestic violence; decreased ability of the wife to leave her husband; lower-quality marriages; and lower levels of happiness for the wife. We find evidence that women for whom a high bride price was paid are less accepting of domestic violence and are happier.

Adapting the myPlan safety app to respond to intimate partner violence for women in low and middle income country settings: app tailoring and randomized controlled trial protocol

“…Social norms create a culture of IPV tolerance that challenges women's ability to seek help or identify their experiences as abuse [14,15]. Practices such as dowry payment for marriage contribute to strict social norms of gender inequity including the dominance of male partners on decisions related to sex, control, and authority in the relationship, regardless of the woman's desires or preferences [16][17][18][19]. Comprehensive efforts to prevent and respond to IPV are urgently needed, particularly in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), where IPV support resources can be scarce.…”

How do perceptions of relative poverty affect women's empowerment? Evidence from Papua New Guinea

“…This violence has been attributed to historical and traditional customs that fail to sanction it. The custom of a bride price-money given by the groom's family to the bride's-is often reinterpreted by men as a justification of intimate partner violence (IPV) (Hague et al, 2011;Lowes and Nunn, 2017;Rees et al, 2017;Eves, 2019). In addition, physical violence is often defended as necessary to shape male (via male-male rivalries) and female (via violence towards women) identities in PNG society (Anderson, 2015;Kelly-Hanku et al, 2016).…”

Do Practices such as Dowry and Bride Prices Relate to Violence Among Migrants in OECD countries?

“…Lastly, sister exchange payments involve the transfer of a sister or other female relative of the groom to the bride's family in exchange for the bride (Maitra, 2007). This practice was traditionally common in the Lowland of South America and the Northwest of the Amazonia, however it is now practiced in some parts of South Asia, particular in Pakistan and some parts of Punjab in India (Hafeez-ur-Rehman & Kavesh, 2012;Hugh-Jones, 2013).The tradition of giving bride price is predominately widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, however in some cases, bride price and dowry have co-existed such as in China and Taiwan (Lowes & Nunn, 2018). In Sub-Saharan Africa, a traditional marriage ceremony depends on payment of a bride price to be valid (Hague, Thiara, & Turner, 2011).…”

“…One theory links dowry tradition as a pre mortem bequest and as a rights of inheritance held by women (Botticini & Siow, 2003). Another theory links marriage payment to the economic value of women, and that it creates an incentive for parents to 'sell' their daughters to obtain the bride price payment (Lowes & Nunn, 2018). Others argue, in regions where women do not make economic contribution, they are viewed as an economic liability, therefore require a dowry payment as a significant contribution into their new marriage.…”