In the recent assembly elections, we were once again inundated with information about how much of a difference the women’s vote made to the outcome.

This report comes to you at a time when questions around who can be family and whether adult citizens of this country have a say in formin

It was the tragic death by suicide that has laid bare the daily trauma of the three sisters from a landless household married to an affluent family with demands for dowry from impoverished parents.

In recent years, with the increased pace of urbanisation and modernisation, Indian women of all social classes have entered professional occupations.

India's efforts to promote family planning have produced a significant increase in the couple protection rate (CPR) which has increased by about 33 percent during the last 22 years-from 10.4 percent in 1970 to 43.5 in 1992.

The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, is an Indian law enacted to prevent and punish the practice of sati, where a widow immolates herself on her husband's funeral pyre.

The Kandyan Marriage and Divorce (Amendment) Act, No. 23 of 2013, passed by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, revises the legal framework governing marriages and divorces within the Kandyan community.

The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, is an Indian law enacted to prevent the giving or receiving of dowry in marriages.

The National Commission for Women Act, 1990, established the National Commission for Women (NCW) in India to safeguard and promote women's rights and address issues of gender equality.