The 29th Foreign Correspondent Report

The Impact of Dowry Transactions on Women-Headed Households:
Gendered Vulnerabilities in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka
Ms. Dishani SENARATNE (Sri Lanka)
The long-standing practice of dowry is one of many under-discussed problems thatadversely affects young women and their families across the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim
communities. Underpinned by the perception that marriage is the ultimate goal in a woman’s life,
parents save for their daughter’s dowry from birth to purchase property and other valuables suchas gold jewelry. With dowry inflation, the girl child is generally considered an economic liability
to the family. Arguably, newspaper matrimonial advertisements are indicative of how women aretreated as marketable commodities in the marriage market.
Admittedly, the dowry system has exacerbated the socio-economic problems that alreadyexist in the northeast area of post-conflict Sri Lanka. In example, Women-Headed Households(WHHs) that have no sustainable livelihoods struggle to save for the exorbitant dowries of theirdaughters in exchange for marriage. In utter desperation, a large number of such women who
intend to fulfil the customary requirement of giving a marriage gift for their daughters, have fallen
victim to micro-finance loans. In an increasingly caste-conscious and materialistic society,displaced Northern women experience double discrimination in matrimonial affairs – being
landless and low-caste. Coupled with the unwillingness to break the taboo against remarriage andthe inability to afford another dowry, some widows prefer to engage in relationships outside
marriage. Like in most post-conflict societies, structural inequalities based on caste, class, genderand economic exclusion serve to disempower women who deal with the legacy of war in Sri Lanka.
Although official statistics are not available, the lack of a dowry and inability to provide
an adequate dowry have resulted in harassment and violence against women in diverse contexts atdifferent scales. A considerable number of local soap operas depict how matriarchal-extended
families extort more dowry money from newly-married brides, in lieu of welcoming them into thefamily. Conversely, intense parental pressure has led prospective grooms to abruptly end theirrelationships with partners of their choice who are incapable of offering a hefty dowry. As dowrytransactions have been traditionally regarded as the ideal vehicle to attain personal growth, men
seek numerous benefits that range from furthering business ventures to pursuing higher studies inThe 29th Foreign Correspondent Report

the name of a dowry. According to Thesavalamai (territorial laws and customs which govern theTamils in Jaffna), the groom has significant control over assets despite ownership of land andproperty having been transferred to the bride prior to marriage. Unarguably, such archaic laws not
only perpetuate toxic male supremacy but also trigger the breakdown of spousal relationships.
With a view to combat dowry-related abuse, India adopted the Dowry Prohibition Act in1961. On paper, such legislation is a victory for gender equality in the Indian context. However,the simple enactment of laws is woefully inadequate in making women less vulnerable to verbal,
physical and emotional abuse. Identifying the dowry payment as a wider social issue and not
merely a women’s issue is of paramount importance to reduce gender-based discrimination in SriLanka and across the globe. Raising awareness at the grass-roots level on the social injusticebehind the traditional marital practice of dowry is a long-term solution to empower women.
Unlike two-parent households, WHHs lack an adult male’s earnings as well as a perceived
sense of safety and security with a male figure. Such diverse and nuanced experiences exemplify
the profound and multi-faceted vulnerabilities of the young women who head these households.
At the height of war, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) banned both casteism and thedowry system with a view to appeal to marginalized Tamil groups. Contrastingly, in the postLTTE era, caste consciousness and dowry practices have gradually seeped into the Tamil psyche,
resulting in active discrimination against lower classes. Investigating the challenges faced by
Northern women in life post-conflict to raise their socio-economic status is vital to bring about
meaningful reconciliation. Unless such issues are paid attention to, women’s empowerment islikely to remain another buzzword in the Sri Lankan context.