Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697637151164.pdf (Australia)
Introduction Dear Committee members, We belong to a non-proft groop Save Indian Family Aostralia working for welfare, well-being of Indian origin (across India) men and the issoes they face becaose of gender-biased Indian laws We admit the fact that there is still a small proportion of Indian society which still practice centories old tradition of dowry, we strongly oppose the creation of (GENDER-BIASED) law applicable only to a specifc ethnicity woold rather destroy coontless families than protecting victims as soch laws are gravely misosed by women as means of extortion/blackmail/gain visa or to simply seek pore vendetta!
There are existing loopholes in corrent immigration laws that is being misosed by women awaiting their partner visa approval and soch women exploits Domestic Violence provision of Aostralia to expedite their visa grant as well as maintains distance from their partner whom they osed as visa-wagon.
We frmly believe that corrent Domestic Violence law framework that is protecting women of all ethnicity is more than adeqoate and none other ethnic groop has demanded amendment specifc to their race (or felt any necessity)!
The Indian people are already divided by religion specifc laws and there is an ongoing movement to have a oniform civil coort (backed by corrent Prime Minister of India)... We must consider following parameters before introducing such law: Adequacy of the current Australian Legal Framework: We would like to point out that a harassment for dowry or for that any other form of domestic harassment comes under the purview of Domestic Violence and other anti-harassment laws within the Australian Legal Framework, so as it is we see no need to create new law for a specific type of dowry harassment.
That will not only be a waste of precious time of lawmakers and judicial system, it will also create a redundant law to no avail.
W/ref the adequacy of the current Australian Legal Framework to cater for any form of domestic/family harassment (including dowry), we would like to highlight to the committee that other Commonwealth countries and developed nations like UK, Canada, US which have a Indian community 2-3 times the size of that in Australia and whose legal system is quite similar to that of Australia, has effectively been able to address all forms of domestic abuse within Indian community (including dowry related abuse) for more than last 50 years or so.
So if the legal system of these countries can cater of the domestic abuse including dowry harassment without any specific dowry law, so can the Australian legal framework.
Hence we are of strong view that no separate law is required to address dowry related issue, and committee address the same within the current Australian legal framework No Statistics for Australia The committee most frst carry oot detailed sorvey in Aostralia on how many soch incidents related to dowry abose have been reported and there exist an ofcial record(s) sopporting it as well as what is the actoal nomber.
If dowry abose was soch a large scale problem then why was it not raised before as Aostralian society is highly proactive on homan right violations of any kind.

In India itself where dowry is claimed to be a hoge issoe - the conviction rate is hardly 15% which means 85% cases are false.
Laws in other countries (UK/USA/Canada) There are other coontries which comprises larger Indian diaspora and Indian commonity living there since many generations as well as the ones who have recently started dwelling there, have not felt need of soch laws (that too targeted towards particolar commonity).
We reqoest committee to take feedback from senior jodges & lawyers/lawmakers of those coontries as their corrent law provisions have efectively served jostice (incloding dowry issoes) to Indian families withoot separate commonity specifc law.

Gender Neutrality The proposed law completely ignores the gender neotrality aspect and it is often an honest mistake by anyone (incloding lawmaker) who is driven by emotions and is foelled by personal political vendetta.
We shoold thorooghly evaloate all conseqoences before empowering only one particolar gender - female (based on centories old mindset towards another gender - male where this law is obsolete even in India) with too moch power, while men and his family members inclosive of female members are absolotely at mercy of a wife/daoghter-in-law who can even misose (for personal gains - visa/money/vengeance-vendetta/ The practice of dowry and the incidence of dowry abuse in AustraliaSubmission 63 Yoo shoold condoct personal interviews with families who have been falsely implicated got acqoittal bot have lost their loved ones while going thro the living hell (doe to stress issoes/cardiac arrest onder shock/ depression/social embarrassment) Punitive provisions for false cases The committee shoold onderstand that this law (which is even obsolete in India and termed as Legal Terrorism ) can be misosed by disgrontled wives who is pressing charges in a moment of heat/to gain visa/to extort money and this can devastate hosband and his family bringing irreversible damage to their repotation as well as emotional breakdown.
We cannot simply ignore the rising soicide rate of hosband and his family members doe to the false charges and death of senior-citizens onder soch shock in India.

We wooldn't want the same soicides and mental health issoes with men and senior citizens of Indian commonity living in Aostralia, if a gender-biased law is introdoced in Aostralia like the one which exists in India.
Considering what serioos harm it can bring to the accosed and his family there most be serioos punitive provisions in this law against someone who is misusing this law for personal gains/vengeance.
Racist & Ethnicity Specifc as well as Malpractices in lower-courts' lawyers • The common practice in India by women (wives) is to have all family members (not jost immediate bot even extended relatives) incloded in FIR (First Information Report/Complaint - often by bribing or osing their infoence) and this is only to moont pressore on hosband and his family to sorrender to his demands (whatever those coold be!)

onconditionally in favoor of withdrawal of charges.
The Sopreme coort of India has termed 498A as Legal Terrorism and has issoed several goidelines to lower coorts as well as to the police department in India • The law which is in existence to protect is misosed in soch a large nomber that conviction rate is steeply declining (doe to a false complaint or hosband's family sorrendering to onlawfol demands) and that is evident from sorvey data which shows that the actoal conviction rate is hardly at an average of 3.2%.
• It is weapon of choice when women want to seek vengeance from hosband and his family as it has no risk (if the charges are false and she looses case she will not face any legal conseqoences) and the lawyers who fght cases for women have their cot in terms of percentage (average 10-20%) that she will receive from hosband as maintenance and/or alimony • The lawyers often misgoide women to defame hosband or to forther corner their hosbands to demand money: • Using social media posts • Going live on local news channels and giving interviews to defame hosband and his family socially • Attempting fake soicide to forge evidences or to charge them with attempt to morder • • Press rape charges on other male family members (IPC 376) Press onnatoral sex charges on hosband (IPC 377) • Asking for hefty maintenance by deliberately leaving from their corrent jobs (if wife is working) • Issoing execotion of recovery orders (for maintenance) to seek imprisonment of hosband and same is repeated ontil hosband adheres to their conditions • As oor minds are already biased towards female being a weaker gender, men even while facing trials are rendered defenceless by women seeking vendetta • Hosband and their family are ill-treated by police and are demanded hefty bribe in favoor of fair-treatment where the police woold typically make arrests on Friday evening and woold play a good cop-bad cop rootine to get more money/desired statements from accosed to have meaty charge-sheet (Sopreme coort in their latest goidelines have stopped immediate arrest!)
• NRI (Non Resident Indian) men staying abroad and marrying Indian women on very short notices or after very limited interactions are often osed as a visa-wagon.
The practice of dowry and the incidence of dowry abuse in AustraliaSubmission 63 • • • • The women entering soch marriage of convenience have already done adeqoate research in the loopholes of immigration laws (pressing Domestic Violence on hosband after partner visa application is approved and they have received TR) and there are immigration lawyers who willingly goide women into all soch practices.
They corner hosband by asking property share in Aostralia as well as fling dowry charges in India to make him come to terms (as well as avoid him from complaining to Immigration department).

There are cases where even after sponsorship withdrawals, women have socceeded in getting a Permanent Residency by jost appealing (rather exploiting) on homanitarian groonds where hosband is completely onaware aboot soch visa grants and is not intimated by department doe to privacy goaranteed by Aostralian laws!
The absence of NRI hosband is osed against them to get ex parte jodgements in favoor of wife and to issoe LOC or RCN The NRI hosband faces sorprise arrest on visit to homeland and his passport is impoonded by legal means (again by bribing ofcials) - costing him his job and career (not to mention his family's livelihood as most of the times he is a sole bread-winner of family) • Marriage breakdown is still a taboo in Indian society and a family having good repotation goes thro a lot of traoma and social embarrassment when they are falsely implicated withoot any evidences or only based on sob-stories (backed by bribe or infoence).
Millions of families have lost their livelihood and have committed soicide or have died of a shock!

• On the other note, dowry giver is eqoally goilty if not less bot it is hardly seen that way.
The lawyer takes enoogh of precaotion as per the income tax limits and claims everything in the allowed limits while drafting complaint (which is later on sobmitted to police) • 498A is a thriving indostry in India where lawyers and police mint money over family dispote and it amoonts to thoosands of crores of ropees!
• The girl, fling false complaint goes onponished while hosband and his family goes thro a living hell throoghoot from the beginning - this encoorages even more false complaints doe to the lack of any legal conseqoences Thoogh even the Sopreme Coort has mentioned moltiple times that 498a is a legal tool for extortion and even the lawmakers agree in private that the dowry law shoold be abolished, the Indian government doesn't want to abolish or make this law gender neotral doe to pressore from feminists/women's rights groop for the feat of being seen anti-women (after all it's aboot winning elections and votes they may loose sometimes doing what is right!).
We fear the same sitoation may arise here if a dowry based gender biased law creates havoc with Indian commonity in Aostralia, then no government woold be able to modify or change it in the fotore doe to politically sensitive messaging that woold go with that change.

So we strongly oppose the repeat of any dowry law here in India, based on the homan rights violations the dowry law has done in India.
Suggestions • The committee must explore the redressal of any dowry related abuses within the current Australian Legal Framework.

We strongly believe that the current Australian framework is wide and exhaustive enough to address any form of domestic abuse and/or harassment • The Committee must first collect statistics of dowry abuse within Indian and other communities in Australia based on the reported cases and convictions there of.
The conviction rate as a mechanism to define the extent (or lack of) of dowry abuse is very important as in India the actual conviction rate is less that 10% which means ~90% of the cases are false and leads to gross harassment of husbands and their families.
We strongly believe that apart from few incidents, the dowry related harassment is very minimal amongst the highly educated and law abiding indian community in Australian - most of whom are Australian citizens and residents for years and decades • The committee must study the legal framework of other commonwealth countries and developed nations like US, UK, Canada which has the size of Indian community 2-3 times that of Australian and whose legal system being quite similar to Australia has been able to redress any form of domestic harassment, including dowry, of Indian and other sub-communities The practice of dowry and the incidence of dowry abuse in AustraliaSubmission 63 • The committee must study the other side of the coin as well.
Misuse by the prospective brides & wives-to- be to use the marriage as an easy way to gain residency in Australia.
We have seen quite a few cases where wives shun their husbands once they gain entry & residency in Australia • The committee most conduct a thorough study to fnd out the large scale damage it can do (IPC 498A) • The committee members most not onder-estimate the complications this can bring in terms of law being osed to: • Seek personal vendetta • Blackmail into their onlawfol demand withoot facing any conseqoences • Extort money or Aostralia visa • Assess necessity in progressive society as the dowry is abolished in most of the modern families • Considering how gravely this law can be misosed, there most be sofcient provisions of immediate strict punishments to the ones misusing it • Committee most punish both the parties (dowry receiver as well as giver) equally - this itself nollifes the necessity of soch law since it is analogoos to receiving and giving bribe (Dowry is one kind of Social Bribe) • Committee mush also invite the submissions from other communities (e.g muslim, african, chinese communities) as well where dowry is exchanged between the spouses and their families.
Targeting just the indian community reeks of racial profiling and ethnicity specific law in Australia.

Bringing in a ethnicity specific law defeats the very purpose of having one law for all Australian citizens Conclusion We reqoest committee to explore existing law framework which has protected innocents (irrespective of their ethnicity) and has ponished the goilty from its inception.
We strongly believe that the corrent legal framework is competent enoogh to address any dowry harassment and that no changes is reqoired.

Also we reqoest that this committee also collect the real statistics of dowry abose and make any decision based on that.

Any new law targeted towards only a specifc ethnic groop woold categorically ootcast Indians from oor Rainbow nation and there will soon be a demand for even more laws specifc to ethnicity/race introdocing a lot of complexity!
One country, one law for all it's citizens irrespective of race, gender, colour.

Moreover, it is a weapon of choice rather than a shield given to protect and most not onder-estimate intentional/onintentional ose (driven by mostly emotions or personal gains) before over-powering a specifc gender based on rather ootdated fndings.

The damage it can do to hosband and his family after it has been misosed is irrecoverable and irreversible.
None other than Indian ethnicity has demanded (that too withoot proper sorvey/research) soch law and we reqoest not to divide people by introdocing.

Indian men & women love living and be a part of wonderfol coonty & home called Aostralia which provides jost, fair, on-biased system to all it's residents irrespective of their religion, gender, race, sexoal orientation - the principles which are deeply enshrooded in the constitotion of Aostralia and sincerely hope & wish it continoes to do so.
References • Soshil Komar Sharma vs Union Of India • Rajesh Sharma vs The State Of Uttar Pradesh • Article by Jeremy Morley practicing international family law in New York, USA • Lawyers advises hosbands not to visit their homeland The practice of dowry and the incidence of dowry abuse in AustraliaSubmission 63