Dowry and Bride-Price: A Comparative Legal and Sociocultural Analysis

Abstract

Dowry and bride-price are deeply entrenched marriage customs that perpetuate gender inequality and economic exploitation across diverse cultures. While dowry involves wealth transfers from the bride’s family to the groom’s, bride-price entails payments from the groom’s family to the bride’s kin. Historically rooted in ancient Greek, Roman, African, and Asian societies, these practices have evolved into systemic tools of oppression, linked to domestic violence, financial burdens, and the commodification of women. This paper examines the legal, cultural, and socioeconomic dimensions of dowry and bride-price, focusing on their prevalence in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Through legislative analysis, judicial case studies (e.g., India’s Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar and Uganda’s Mifumi v. Attorney General), and ethnographic research, it highlights the failure of laws to eradicate these practices due to cultural resistance, enforcement gaps, and patriarchal norms. The study reveals how colonial legacies and modernization have distorted traditional practices into exploitative transactions, exacerbating gendered disparities.