SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN IN POLYGAMY

 

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN IN POLYGAMY

Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz

 

A lot of justification is given by the advocates of polygamy that if the second marriage remains legal then the first wife still continues to have and retain all her financial rights. Both wives get the benefit of being financially supported by the husband. But lived reality of women, especially from the lower socio-economic strata turned worse after the husband remarried. There is no hidden psychology or some fantastic economic theory. It means that the husband acts irresponsibly and simply stops supporting his first wife and children. Simply stops. And given how expensive and lethargic our judicial system is, no women dares to approach the court for economic sustenance. A large swathe of poor women simply work even more harder to survive with now additional responsibility of the children.

 

Let’s look at some case studies highlighted in BMMA’s ‘Status of Women in Polygamous Marriage and the Need for Legal Protection’, published in December 2022 by Notion Press.

 

In Karnataka two women were above the age of 60 and for many years they had struggled after their husbands married another woman and abandoned them. They have grown up children now. For instance Maktumbee, age 62, had 3 children – 2 daughters and 1 son. They were all married and they lived separately with their families.

 

Kamrun bi, 65, worked as a house cleaner. She had one daughter who died after her marriage. Her husband had HIV and her daughter also had HIV. So her daughter, her husband and their daughter all died. She had another daughter who lived with Kamrunbi. The rest of the women are all within the age of 46. Zarina from Mumbai is youngest. She is 23 years of age.

 

All of them had children to manage. Roshan from Karnataka had 2 children. Her daughter, 17, was studying in class 12 and son, 20, was working in a mobile shop. Ayesha from Mumbai had 4 sons. Saira in Mumbai and Maimoona Khatoon from Odisha had one child each. Naazmabanu from Odisha has 3 children.

 

Noorjehan Shaikh from Mumbai belonged to a poor family. Father was unemployed and mother worked as a domestic help. She had 3 sisters and 2 brothers. She was uneducated and because she was the eldest she had to look after her younger siblings. She also started working as a domestic help. Saira from Mumbai is from Gonda District of UP. They were 4 sisters and one brother. Parents were very poor. Saira studied only till class 7. She was married to Yusuf at the age of 14. Yusuf was 18 years of age. Arzoo from MP has three sisters. Her father worked as a labourer.

 

Roshan’s husband worked in a mechanic shop. Yusuf, Saira’s husband worked in a hair salon and earned well. Noorjehan from Mumbai and Rubina from MP are uneducated and Noorjehan worked as a domestic help. Rabiya from MP also worked as a domestic worker and earned Rs. 1200. She studied till 8th class. Maimoona from Odisha also was a domestic help studied only till class 3. Zarina from MP, the youngest in the profile studied till 10th class and did not have any source of income. Aarzoo from MP also studied till 10th and earned 1500/ by doing basic stitching work. Nazma Banu from Odisha studied till the 7th class. She is a widow now and has 3 children.

 

Let us look at some numbers to understand the gravity of the situation. Most of them have been married young mostly below the age of 18. Rubina from MP was married at the age of 16, Saira from Mumbai at the age of 14. 29% girls [ who are 1st wives] and 18% [ who are 2nd wives] were married below the age of 18. Combined figures show that 47% were not even 18 before they got married.

 

71% second wives were dropout below class 10, 20% illiterate, 4% graduate and 77% first wives were dropout below class 10, 11% up to class 10, 7% graduate, 1% PG. Even we take just the first figures without combining any numbers, 71-77% were below class 10.

 

42% first wives had no income at all; 40% had an income of below Rs 1000. Here if we combine then 82% had barely any money to survive. Same goes with the second wife. 45% second wives had no income at all; 34% had an income of below Rs 1000. Combined figures show that 79% bared managed.

 

Giving credit where it is due, 40% of the husbands provide first wife’s monthly maintenance, but 47% do not provide monthly maintenance and 13% husbands provide monthly maintenance irregularly. If we put the figures together then 60% of the women find themselves in a financially bleaker situation than they were before the husband remarried. This is also validated from the fact that 44% of women started working after the husband remarried.

 

Let us the see the housing status. A big number, 41% moved to their parent’s house, 14% lived on their own in a rented house and 10% lived in a new house provided by their husband. If we put the numbers together then 65% were displaced from their homes after the husband remarried.

 

TO SUM UP

 

47% were married below the age of 18, 77% had not even cleared their SSC, 82% of first wives and 79% of second wives barely survive with meagre or no income,  60% of first wives become financially weaker after husband’s remarriage and 65% were displaced from their homes. Moreover 45% women said they are tolerating the second marriage because they have no other option and they are concerned about their children.

 

The claim that polygamy is financially better for the wives than monogamy are living in a liar’s paradise.

 

See the full report:

https://notionpress.com/read/status-of-women-in-polygamous-marriages-and-need-for-legal-protection