Marriage

===Dowry===
A [[dowry]] is "a process whereby parental property is distributed to a daughter at her marriage (i.e. ''inter vivos'') rather than at the holder's death (''mortis causa'')… A dowry establishes some variety of conjugal fund, the nature of which may vary widely. This fund ensures her support (or endowment) in widowhood and eventually goes to provide for her sons and daughters."<ref>{{cite book|last=Goody|first=Jack|title=Production and Reproduction: A Comparative Study of the Domestic Domain|year=1976|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|page=6}}</ref>

In some cultures, especially in countries such as [[Turkey]], [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[Morocco]], [[Nepal]], dowries continue to be expected. In India, thousands of dowry-related deaths have taken place on yearly basis,<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/3071963.stm India's dowry deaths]". BBC News. 16 July 2003.</ref><ref>[[Anita Pratap]] (11 September 1995) [https://web.archive.org/web/20040311150501/http://www.time.com/time/international/1995/950911/women.india.html Women: killed by greed and oppression]". Time Magazine. Volume 146, No. 11</ref> to counter this problem, several jurisdictions have enacted laws restricting or banning dowry (see [[Dowry system in India#Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961|Dowry law in India]]). In Nepal, dowry was made illegal in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://southasia.oneworld.net/todaysheadlines/nepal-bans-dowry-caste-based-discrimination#.UGH0Nq4Zh0I |title=Nepal bans dowry, caste-based discrimination – OneWorld South Asia |publisher=Southasia.oneworld.net |date=27 January 2009 |access-date=26 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720040917/http://southasia.oneworld.net/todaysheadlines/nepal-bans-dowry-caste-based-discrimination#.UGH0Nq4Zh0I |archive-date=20 July 2012  }}</ref> Some authors believe that the giving and receiving of dowry reflects the status and even the effort to climb high in social hierarchy.<ref>{{cite book|author= Tanwar, Reicha|title=Dowery the North Indian Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NS_TOHRTWpgC&pg=PT36|year= 2007|publisher=Pinnacle Technology|isbn=978-1-61820-208-6|pages=36–}}</ref>