In Patrilocal societies, women move to their husbands’ house and co-reside with husbands’ parents after marriage. Gender gaps in personal autonomy, education, health, and division of labor are more prominent in families and societies which are strictly Patrilocal.   With marriage, almost all the girls who live with her husband’s parents and extended family, lose a great deal of their freedom, decision making power and autonomy. A girl is expected to follow the rules and norms, sometimes strict and irrelevant, set by her husband’s parents. Often, the choice of a girl’s lifestyle, starting from food habit to dressing sense and even the way she behaves or talks are questioned,…

    What is the male guardianship rule?   Women in Saudi Arabia, irrespective of their age, education or employment status,  must have a male guardian, typically a father, brother, husband or uncle (mahram). Women are treated like second class citizens in Saudi Arabia. All females, girls, and women are forbidden from traveling, conducting official business, or undergoing certain medical procedures without permission from their male guardians. Women are not allowed to leave the house without a male accompany. The ownership of a woman is passed from one man to another, typically from the father or the brother to the husband. Women are treated as possessions of their male guardians.…

  Women in many parts of the world still have a very little or no choices on their own lives. Historically, no country in the world had similar rights for men and women in all the areas. Women had to fight for equal rights and privileges in every aspect  – starting from voting rights to rights to inherit their father’s property, or even to drive cars! Over the last 50 years, many reforms have improved women’s legal rights. But, according to a World Bank Report, even now in over 100 countries, women are restricted from doing certain work solely because of gender discrimination.  Out of 173 countries, only 18 are…

    Do you know that wife-beating was legal and a very common practice in almost all countries prior to the mid-1800s? Most legal systems viewed wife-beating as a valid exercise of a husband’s authority over his wife?   Women and children were seen as ‘belonging’ to a man, therefore controlling of his wife and children in the form of physical violence or punishment by a man were acceptable in religious and civil laws of all societies.   Legal Documents from the Medieval Age from different regions support wife-beating was legally allowed to ‘control, correct, support and instruct’ the wife by her husband. During the 1800s, wife beating was extremely…

  In January 2019, a woman in Nepal died in the ‘menstruation hut’ with her 2 kids. They died of possible suffocation or carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire they lit to warm the hut in the freezing cold!   Women in Nepal are forced to live in animal sheds or secluded huts in inhuman conditions, during menstruation.   Chhaupadi or menstruation exile is a century old practice in Nepal, where women are banned from entering their own house, meeting any people, eating good or nutritious food and participating any social and religious events.   This was not the first death of a woman in her menstruation exile in Nepal; there…

    Dowry is a social custom where a man and his family demand assets and money from the bride’s family. Even though dowry is declared illegal in India and other neighboring countries, this practice is still highly prevalent in these region. To know more about this custom, it’s background and consequences, read our post Dowry- The Leading Cause of Female Infanticides and Foeticides in Indian Sub-continent   What is dowry killings ?   In some cases, greed of the guy’s family persists after marriage and the demand for money or expensive items does not end after marriage . In these cases, often the girls are tortured and severely abused to…

  “I think only when we can shift the shame from the victims to perpetrators, the change will start there.”- Dr. Denis Mukwege   In October 2018, New York time published how #MeToo movement brought down 201 powerful men in the United States. Majority of these men have harassed and assaulted women for many years and probably never imagined they would ever have to face any consequences. We have seen in the last couple of years how so many men in power and fame were accused, proven guilty, removed or resigned from their position or even sentenced as a consequence of MeToo movement.   Victim blaming and shaming has not completely…

  What is Female Genital Mutilation? Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a harmful and brutal practice of partially or completely removing , cutting , sewing up , piercing of external female genitalia as a social or cultural custom. There are several deep- rooted cultural, social, even political and religious believes behind this inhuman practice but actually it is nothing but a reflection of discrimination and oppression against women and girls and is used to harness the rights and controls of women’s lives, sexuality , health and well being.    “With the dignity, health and well-being of millions of girls at stake, there is no time to waste. Together, we can…