Publication Date
2016
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
India’s dowry murders, Gender violence crime, Dowry-violence legislation
Abstract
This article focuses on the phenomenon of women who kill women in the context of India’s dowry murders. Killing by females is rare, and killing of other females is rarer still. India’s dowry deaths, where mothers-in-law are, next to husbands, the most accused and convicted, represents a unique opportunity to examine the mechanics around women who kill, especially in the context of a gender violence crime. The article examines both the roots of the dowry system and the current anti-dowry and dowry-violence legislation to demonstrate the implicit and accepted gender inequities within marriage that serve to under gird an overall system of female oppression within the marital relationship. This inequity is understood to be a positive aspect within marriage, but ironically negative within public Indian society. The article then considers various theories of agency and motivation from social science and feminist literature to answer why some women participate in oppressing other women in Indian society. Finally, the article notes some of the ways in which Indian courts are contributing to the oppressive power structure by limiting the application of the anti-dowry and dowry-violence laws.
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Statement
Copyright held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Rashmi Goel
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
36 pgs
File Size
2.3 MB
Publication Title
The William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law
Volume
22
First Page
549
Last Page
584
Recommended Citation
Rashmi Goel, Women Who Kill Women, 22 Wm & Mary J. Women & L. 549 (2016).