Does bride price harm women? Using ethnography to think about causality.

ABSTRACT: Many institutions claim that bride price - where the groom's family transfers wealth to the bride's family at marriage - harms women. Owing to its long-term engagement with communities that practise bride price, ethnography is well placed to identify causal mechanisms at play in this issue, and there is a substantial literature on its effects in a variety of world regions, including Melanesia. Here, we condense this literature, drawing out key causal arguments made about bride price in various Melanesian societies. This reveals a complex, multi-causal picture: rather than being singularly harmful, bride price may involve a mixture of drawbacks and benefits, making it a double-edged sword with contested implications. Bride price may constrain women's options before and during the marriage b

SUBMITTER: Brandl E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11363001 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature