India is known to have the biggest industry when it comes to bride trafficking, as well as human trafficking. In India, having a son is seen to be more valuable than having a daughter. Girls are normally seen as an economic hardship for the family, as females do not tend to work and have to be paid a dowry before getting married.
Haryana, a wealthy state in India is known to have a booming business in bride trafficking. A 2013 field study of 10,000 households found that 90% of the married women were sold as brides from other states.
Why does it happen?
In India alone, there is a big ratio of male to female, which is one of the main causes of why bride trafficking happens in the first place. According to the 2011 census, there were 877 females to 1,000 males in Haryana- against the national average of 933 females to 1000 males. This big ratio divide causes a lot of men to buy girls in impoverished states in India.
Traffickers normally take girls from impoverished states and bring them to more prosperous states, bringing up the value up of the bride. The normal value for a bride in Haryana is between the range of 5,000 rupees ($USD 70) to 40,000 rupees ($USD 600).
Girls are normally trafficked through fake agencies/brokers, that either- kidnap the girls or convince a parent to sell their daughter to help the girl get out of the current improvised state they are living in. These girls are normally sold based on virginity, religion, and language, and can also be resold by traffickers.
Traffickers, Marriage Bursaries, and The Victims
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act states that “a girl in India can’t marry before the age of 18, and a boy before 21”
One of the main way girls are trafficked into bride trafficking is through marriage bursaries or brokers. Marriage bursaries are located all over India and work towards finding men the perfect bride. They do this by promising the girl or the girls family that they will be married to a wealthy and loving family. Once they succeed in convincing the girls family, they take the girl and sell her to the highest bidder with a fake marriage certificate.
The marriage certificate is made so that the trafficker, as well as the buyer, won’t get in trouble with the law as most girls sold are under the age of 18. They use fake marriage licenses to resell the girls as they have no legal proof of divorce and can’t leave. Making sure traffickers and buyers do not get into trouble with the law
These young girls who get sold by the traffickers, ages (12-18) end up being treated like salves and often get married to men twice their age. They get pregnant really early and go through physical and sexual abuse. Furthermore, they can be resold if they are not fulfilling the purpose the buyer wants. For instance, having sons. If the girl is not able to provide any sons, the buyer can send her back to the trafficker and the trafficker can resell her again. This is one of the many too true realities of 90 percent of the women living the inside state Haryana.
Links:
website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_Trafficking_in_Haryana
Pictures :
https://www.shreesaidocumentation.com/marriage-certificate-attestation.html
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