India: Whether women experience difficulties, including abuse, from their husbands and/or family due to their inability to bear children (from January 1998)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IND29310.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, India: Whether women experience difficulties, including abuse, from their husbands and/or family due to their inability to bear children (from January 1998), 1 May 1998, IND29310.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abf798.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on whether women experience difficulties from their husbands and/or family due to their inability to bear children is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
A 23 December 1996 Country Information Report from the Australian Country Information Service (CIS), Department of Immigration and Multiculturalism, states that:
The status of women in India presents many contradictory images such that it is inaccurate to generalize. The dominant Hindu culture puts a strong emphasis on the virtues of motherhood. The matriarch occupies a powerful position in the traditional family structure. Indeed, in some north eastern states, and other tribal areas, the matriarchal system is preeminent for inheritance purposes. ... Sexual harassment and abuse, particularly outside the family, is a constant source of concern.
... Laws against sexual abuse an regulating sex workers are, generally, in line with modern, international trends. ... Nevertheless, there is a massive problem across India with the implementation of most laws, including those on rights of women. ...
In an India Today article, a 33-year old Mumbai (Bombay) childless housewife is described as having suffered taunts by her mother-in-law that she was barren, which finally stopped when she confessed that her husband was homosexual (11 May 1998, 43). Her mother-in-law and family believed her only when catching the man in a compromising position with another man. Following this discovery, the family became "extra nice" toward her, the mother-in-law even suggesting she "sleep with a particular relative to produce a child so everyone would think their relationship was normal" (ibid.).
Information on women and domestic violence is also provided in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997 (1998).
Please consult the following Responses to Information Requests for additional information: IND16966.E of 23 March 1994 on the availability of police protection for female victims of domestic violence; IND14182 of 5 July 1993 on women's groups that operate in India, including any organizations that help women who have been victims of or threatened with rape or sexual abuse, and the DIRB's Question and Answer Series paper Women in India of October 1995. All these publications are available at Regional Documentation Centres.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Country Information Service (CIS), Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Australia. 23 December 1996. "Country Information Report No. 1058/96 on India: Status of Women." (CISINFO database)
India Today [Delhi]. 11 May 1998. Vol. 23, No. 19. Vijay Jung Thapa and Sheela Raval with Stephen David. "Homosexuals: Sex, Lies, Agony and Matrimony."
Additional Sources Consulted
Asian Profile [Hong Kong]. Bi-monthly. December 1997.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997. 30 January 1998.
Current History [Philadelphia]. Monthly. January-May 1998
India Today [Delhi]. Weekly. January 1998-present.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Human Rights Newsletter [Delhi]. Monthly. December 1997-March 1998.
Resource Centre. International/Indexed Media Review [Ottawa]. January 1998-present.
_____. "India" country file. January 1998-present.
_____. "India: Amnesty International." December 1997-present.
WIN News [Lexington, Mass.]. Quarterly. Spring 1997-present.
Women Living Under Muslim Laws [Grenoble]. Various dates.
Electronic sources: CISINFO, Internet, IRB Databases.
