Page 203 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Unit 26: Family Problems: Violence in Families, Desertion and Divorce

Notes
educated and upper class widows. (3) Inaction on part of the widow too, acts as a major factor
in harassing. (4) Though, the ‘widow Remarriage Act’ 1856 allows widows to remarry, yet there
are few cases of remarriage. (5) The major factors which propel harassment against widows
are the dominant personality of mother-in-law and lack of adjustment with husband’s siblings.
(6) There is no co-relation between the family size, structure and harassment of the widow. (7)
Mostly, it is the husband’s family members who harass the widow.

What are the three major factors of the harassment of widows?

Prostitution

Prostitution is a social evil, which has been prevalent since the ancient times. It is a vulgar and
distored means of sexual satisfaction. It leads to the physical and moral downfall of an individ-
ual, causes financial loss and undermines his family and social position. Elliot and Meryll write,
“Prostitution is non-differentiated and money based establishment of sexual relations, where
the emotional factor does not exist.” To prohibit prostitution, “Immoral Trafficking of women
and girls Prohibition Act” was passed in 1956, yet it is prevalent in India, in both obvious and
non-obvious forms. The obvious group includes those prostitutes who are registered and run
brothels in an obvious form. In cities, where these brother are run, are called ‘Red light Areas’.
The non-obvious forms of prostitution involve those women, who apart from having a job or a
business, get into the act of prostitution. Presently, in big cities, girls from educated and upper
class families get into prostitution in bars, hotels and dance bars. The hotel owners, cab drivers,
dance show organisers and pimps too, provide support in lieu of commission.
Other form of prostitution is the custom of ‘Devdasi,’ where girls are offered to temple Gods for
serving them. These girls not only sing and dance in temples, they also fulfill the sexual desires
of priests and landlords. The major factors which are responsible for pushing girls into prostitu-
tion are poverty, desire for lavish life style, financial dependence, ban on widow remarriage,
dowry custom, troubled married life, immoral activities, family circumstances, dowry custom,
divorce, illicit relations, abnormal sexual urges and religious and sentiments.
Prostitution brings a bad name to womanhood. It increases family, personal and social disin-
tegration and leads to moral downfall, financial loss and increased cases of sexually transmit-
ted diseases. Thus, it is the need of humanity and the call of morality that the prostitutes be
prevented from such immorality and women be saved from this menace against womanhood.

Femicide and Foeticide

The Indian society is male-dominated. Here boys are given more importance than girls. From
the religious point of view too, it is important to have a son, as he is supposed to be the one, who,
by performing rituals like ‘Shradh’ and ‘Tarpan’, ensures his dead parents entry into heaven.
Inheritance too, essentially requires a son. But in some families, if the number of girls is more
them they are killed when they are born. This is female infanticide, which is a form of femicide.
Killing of females is prevalent in various obvious and non-obvious forms. Female foeticide,
battering a female child to death, harassing, to create such circumstances that the female is
forced to commit suicide, poisoning, smothering to death are all obvious forms of femicide. A
form of non-obvious killing is where a female child is neglected and is not given proper care or
medical help, due to which she dies. Scientific progress has provided man with thousands of
facilities. Today, through Amniocentesis, we can find out the gender of the foetus in mother’s
womb. People started misusing this scientific knowledge and now, when they find out that the

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 197