The most comprehensive compilation of information on the status of
women in the world.

Latest items for India

Sept. 29, 2023, 9:40 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: BR-DATA-1

"16.1 births per 1000 population"
Sept. 18, 2023, 12:36 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: TRAFF-PRACTICE-2

"Young girls in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan are being sold as 'repayment' for loans their parents cannot afford, the national body that protects human rights has said" (para.1). "Local media reports say that in half a dozen districts around Bhilwara, if a family cannot repay a loan, the aggrieved creditor has complained to the 'caste panchayats' or caste councils. By way of 'settlement', the councils have ordered the family to hand over their daughter – sometimes more than one depending on the size of the loan – so that the creditor can sell her to a trafficker to recoup his money. In its notice, the commission said that...more
Sept. 18, 2023, 12:36 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: TRAFF-LAW-1

"The commission has sent an official to Rajasthan to investigate the cases. The Bhilwara district collector, Ashish Modi, said the crimes were the first of their kind. 'They are total illegal. The police are investigating and we will make sure the victims get justice and the guilty are punished,' Modi said" (para.9).
Sept. 18, 2023, 12:36 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: LRW-PRACTICE-1

"Local media reports say that in half a dozen districts around Bhilwara, if a family cannot repay a loan, the aggrieved creditor has complained to the 'caste panchayats' or caste councils. By way of 'settlement', the councils have ordered the family to hand over their daughter – sometimes more than one depending on the size of the loan – so that the creditor can sell her to a trafficker to recoup his money. In its notice, the commission said that if the family refuses to sell their daughter, 'their mothers are subjected to rape on the diktats of caste panchayats for the settlement of disputes' "(para.4-6).
Sept. 18, 2023, 12:36 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: DTCP-LAW-1

"Local media reports say that in half a dozen districts around Bhilwara, if a family cannot repay a loan, the aggrieved creditor has complained to the 'caste panchayats' or caste councils.By way of 'settlement', the councils have ordered the family to hand over their daughter – sometimes more than one depending on the size of the loan – so that the creditor can sell her to a trafficker to recoup his money" (para4-5). "Kavita Srivastava, a veteran women’s rights activist in Jaipur, Rajasthan, said it was well known that caste panchayats informally regulated villagers’ personal matters such as marriage, inheritance or custody. If people defy their orders, they are ostracised...more
Sept. 18, 2023, 12:36 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: MURDER-PRACTICE-1, MARR-PRACTICE-7, DSFMF-PRACTICE-3

"Panchayats are often a profoundly regressive force in rural India, acting as kangaroo courts. They have ordered so-called honour killings of couples who have defied tradition by marrying into a different caste or faith or ordered brutal punishments for couples suspected of adultery" (para.10).
Sept. 8, 2023, 10:47 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: AOM-DATA-2

"Women who were first married by age 18 (% of women ages 20-24) is '22.3%.'"
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: DV-PRACTICE-1

"[Women's rights activist Kavita] Srivastava cites examples of women who face lifelong domestic violence and are even thrown out of their matrimonial homes for not fulfilling their recurring demands" (para 29).
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: AOM-DATA-1

" 'Among [teacher Gunjan Tiwari's] relatives in [her] ancestral village in Etawah district in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, a 25-year-old is considered an old woman in the marriage market' " (para 33).
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ISSA-PRACTICE-1

"Campaigners say dowry is also one of the reasons behind India's skewed gender ratio - the UN estimates that nearly 400,000 female foetuses are aborted every year using pre-natal sex screening tests by families worried that daughters would cost them dowries" (para 22).
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: MARR-LAW-4

"Dowries have been illegal in India since 1961" (para 1).
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: MARR-PRACTICE-5

"Dowries have been illegal in India since 1961, but the bride's family is still expected to gift cash, clothes and jewellery to the groom's family" (para 1). "Gunjan Tiwari (not her real name) tells the BBC her petition is rooted in her own experiences of being rejected by dozens of men over dowry. The most recent incident took place in February when her father had invited a young man and his family to their home in the hope of finding a match for her...A lot of meticulous planning had gone into when and how Gunjan will appear before the guests. Her mother had chosen a green outfit for her because...more
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: MARR-PRACTICE-9

" 'Most [families of unmarried young men] want a lavish wedding which would cost 5m rupees or more. My father can only afford half of that' [teacher Gunjan Tiwari] says, adding that her insistence that she would marry without a dowry has made her parents' life more difficult" (para 35).
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: MURDER-PRACTICE-2, MURDER-DATA-2

"According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 35,493 brides were killed in India between 2017 and 2022 - an average of 20 women a day - for bringing in insufficient dowry" (para 21).
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: SEGI-PRACTICE-1

“[A] 27-year-old teacher in the central city of Bhopal has started a petition asking the police to deploy officers at marriage venues and conduct raids to put an end to this 'social evil'. Gunjan Tiwari (not her real name) tells the BBC her petition is rooted in her own experiences of being rejected by dozens of men over dowry...In her petition addressed to Harinarayan Chari Mishra, the police chief of Bhopal, Gunjan says that the only solution is raiding wedding venues and arresting those found giving or receiving dowry. The 'fear of punishment' will help 'put a stop to this cruel practice,' she adds. Last week, she met Mr Mishra...more
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: SEGI-PRACTICE-2

"In her petition addressed to Harinarayan Chari Mishra, the police chief of Bhopal, [27-year-old teacher] Gunjan [Tiwari] says that the only solution [to the practice of dowries in India] is raiding wedding venues and arresting those found giving or receiving dowry. The 'fear of punishment' will help 'put a stop to this cruel practice,' she adds. Last week, she met Mr Mishra to request his help in her fight. 'Dowry is a social evil and we are committed to ending it. I have directed all police stations to give proper help to any woman who approaches them,' Mr Mishra told [the BBC]. But, he says, that 'police have their limitations,...more
Sept. 6, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: MARR-PRACTICE-7

"[Teacher Gunjan Tiwari's] father regularly scours the matrimonial columns of newspapers and has sounded out relatives to keep their eyes and ears open and let him know if they spot a suitable match. He has joined a WhatsApp group with more than 2,000 members of his caste where families such as theirs share resumes of their children" (para 34). Because the WhatsApp group is confined to members of the caste to which the Tiwari family belongs, it appears likely that marriages are frequently between individuals of a particular caste (AMC - CODER COMMENT).
Aug. 22, 2023, 12:13 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: IAW-LAW-1

"Section 24 of the principal Act shall be omitted" (2). Section 24 initially excluded widows who re-married from inheriting however since this has been omitted, men and women inherit equally by law. The most recent laws noted in the WomanStats Database (since 2005) relating to widow inheritance are still current as of December 2022 and no changes have been made, as verified by consulting The Women, Business, and the Law database for 2022 (JLR-CODER COMMENT).
Aug. 22, 2023, 11:04 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: LO-LAW-1

"Every person is competent to contract who is of the age of majority according to the law to which he is subject, and who is of sound mind, and is not disqualified from contracting by any law to which he is subject" (13). The most recent laws noted in the WomanStats Database (since 1872) relating to contracts are still current as of December 2022 and no changes have been made, as verified by consulting The Women, Business, and the Law database for 2022 (JLR-CODER COMMENT).
Aug. 22, 2023, 10:58 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: LO-LAW-1

"(1) Any property possessed by a female Hindu, whether acquired before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner. Explanation.―In this sub-section, 'property' includes both movable and immovable property acquired by a female Hindu by inheritance or devise, or at a partition, or in lieu of maintenance or arrears of maintenance, or by gift from any person, whether a relative or not, before, at or after her marriage, or by her own skill or exertion, or by purchase or by prescription, or in any other manner whatsoever, and also any such property held by her as...more
June 29, 2023, 11:36 a.m.
Countries: India
Variables: LO-LAW-1

"Many tribal land systems, including in Bihar, deny tribal women the right to own land. Other laws or customs relating to the ownership of assets and land accord women little control over land use, retention, or sale" (44).
June 26, 2023, 6:45 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: LRW-PRACTICE-1, ERBG-PRACTICE-1, SEGI-PRACTICE-1

"In India’s capital territory, you’re not likely to find many, if any, female taxi drivers. For Delhi’s young professional women, that’s become a problem. Last year a male Uber driver raped a female passenger, generating a fiery debate about the safety of women on New Delhi’s roads" (para3).
June 26, 2023, 6:45 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ERBG-PRACTICE-4

"In India’s capital territory, you’re not likely to find many, if any, female taxi drivers. For Delhi’s young professional women, that’s become a problem. Last year a male Uber driver raped a female passenger, generating a fiery debate about the safety of women on New Delhi’s roads" (para3). "Varma has tried to talk some of her female friends into becoming taxi drivers—with little success. 'Even if the girl wants to, oftentimes families have an issue with it,' she says. That’s where Sakha offers support. 'For a girl who is going out of the house for the first time, it’s a big step.' " (para.17).
June 26, 2023, 6:45 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: IIP-PRACTICE-2, RISW-PRACTICE-1

"Most households have a personal driver, if they can afford it. Otherwise, women used to have to select from auto rickshaws, taxis, Meru Cabs, or OlaCabs, all of which came with a male driver.Then Sakha Cabs arrived in 2008, getting more attention in recent years. It has a small fleet of women drivers strictly for female passengers" (para.4-5).
June 17, 2023, 5:11 p.m.
Countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Central African Rep, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Variables: MARR-SCALE-2

4.0
May 17, 2023, 1:25 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ATFPA-PRACTICE-2

"Also, there are finances and many joint arrangements that a couple takes upon themselves at the start of the relationship. Women are mostly in the dark about financial decisions, which creates further dependence and insecurity, especially if she happens to be not working. According to the NCFE Financial Literacy and Inclusion Survey 2019, only 21% of female respondents were financially literate. While the overall financial literacy in India was measured at 27%. So getting divorced is not just hard but impossible" (para 4).
May 15, 2023, 4:24 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: IAW-LAW-1

According to the "Women, Business, and the Law" database (2022), female and male surviving spouses have equal rights to inherit assets. The WBL database cites the following as the source: Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005, Sec. 5.
May 15, 2023, 4:24 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: LO-LAW-1

According to the "Women, Business, and the Law" database (2022), the law does not prohibit discrimination in access to credit based on gender. The WBL database cites the following as the source: no source provided. According to the "Women, Business, and the Law" database (2022), a woman can sign a contract in the same way as a man. The WBL database cites the following as the source: Indian Contract Act 1872, Sec. 11. According to the "Women, Business, and the Law" database (2022), a woman can register a business in the same way as a man. The WBL database cites the following as the source: Companies Act 2013, Secs. 3...more
May 15, 2023, 4:24 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: IAD-LAW-1

According to the "Women, Business, and the Law" database (2022), sons and daughters have equal rights to inherit assets from their parents. The WBL database cites the following as the source: Maharashtra Hindu Succession Act, 1994, Sec. 29 A; Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005, Sec. 3.
April 17, 2023, 11:26 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: MARR-LAW-7

SCHEDULE I: Table of prohibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity (See section 3) A man shall not marry his- 1. Paternal grand-father's mother. 2. Paternal grand-mother's mother. 3. Maternal grand-father's mother. 4. Maternal grand-mother's mother. 5. Paternal grand-mother. 6. Paternal grand-father's wife. 7. Maternal grand-mother. 8. Maternal grand-father's wife. 9. Mother or step-mother. 10. Father's sister or step-sister. 11. Mother's .sister or step-sister. 12. Sister or step-sister. 13. Brother's daughter or step-brother's daughter, or any direct lineal descendant of a brother or step-brother. 14. Sister's daughter or step-sister's daughter, or any direct lineal descendant of a sister or step-sister. 15. Daughter or step-daughter, or any direct lineal descendant of either....more