Problems for Indian women begin at birth. Boys are considered more desirable, for they offer parents security in old age - traditionally, sons remain in their parents' house even after marriage. Girls are often seen as a burden, as they not only leave the family when married, but need an adequate dowry. Consequently, girls may be fed less if there is insufficient food, and their education neglected. Although such practices are now illegal, it is believed they still occur.
Arranged marriages are the norm rather than the exception.
A village girl may well find herself married off while still in her early teens to a man she has never met. This might involve a daily trek of several km to fetch water, as much again to gather firewood, and again to gather fodder for domestic animals. She would have no property rights and domestic violence is common. In many ways, her status is little better than that of a slave. For the urban, middle-class woman in cities such as Delhi and Bombay, life is materially much more comfortable, but the pressures still exist.