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Watta satta or shighar ( ur, ،شغار،وٹہ سٹہ), is an
exchange marriage Sister exchange is a type of marriage agreement where two sets of siblings marry each other. In order to get married, a man needs to persuade his sister to marry the bride's brother. It is practised as a primary method of organising marriages in ...
common in Pakistan and Afghanistan.Watta Satta: Bride Exchange
Hanan G. Jacoby and Ghazala Mansuri, World Bank (Washington DC)
The custom involves the simultaneous marriage of a brother-sister pair from two households. In some cases, it involves uncle-niece pairs, or cousin pairs. ''Watta satta'' is more than just an exchange of women from two families or clans; it establishes the shadow of mutual threat across the marriages. A husband who abuses his wife in this arrangement can expect his brother-in-law to retaliate in kind against his sister. ''Watta satta'' is cited as a cause of both low
domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partn ...
in some families, and conversely for extreme levels of reciprocal domestic violence in others. In Pakistan it is typically
endogamous Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
, with over 75% marriages involving blood relatives, and 90% of these marriages occurring within the same village, tribe or clan (''zaat'', ''biraderi'').Watta Satta: Bride Exchange and Women’s Welfare in Rural Pakistan
Hanan G. Jacoby and Ghazala Mansuri, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4126, February 2007 (Washington DC)
In rural parts of Pakistan, ''watta satta'' accounts for over 30% of all marriages.PAKISTAN: Traditional marriages ignore HIV/AIDS threat
IRIN, United Nations press service (6 December 2007)


Rationale

The rationale for ''watta satta'' custom has been theorized as an environment with generally low and uncertain incomes, weak or uncertain legal institutions of the state, ''watta satta'' may be the most effective means available to the poor to prevent marital discord, divorces and domestic abuse. It enables a form of social pressure and reciprocity, wherein a man who abuses his wife is expected to be deterred by the possibility that his own sister will suffer from similar or more severe retaliation by the brother of his wife. In practice, ''watta satta'' may either promote peace in the two families, or (as has also been observed) produce escalating, retaliatory episodes of domestic violence. Bride exchange between two families is also seen as an informal way to limit demands and consequences of
dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...
(
brideprice Bride price, bride-dowry (Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...
) and dowry disputes.


Prevalence

In rural parts of northwest and west Pakistan, and its tribal regions, watta satta accounts for over 30% of all marriages. Watta satta is implicitly an endogamous form of marriage. In practice, Over 50% of watta satta marriages are within the same village; on a geographical level, over 80% of women either live in the same village of their birth or report being able to visit it and return home in the same day. Over three out of four women in watta satta marriage are married to a blood relative, mostly first-cousins with a preference for the paternal side; of the rest, majority are married to someone unrelated by blood but within the same ''zaat'' and ''biradari'' (a form of clan in Muslim communities of Pakistan) or clan. The custom of bartering brides is also observed in Muslim agrarian societies of Afghanistan. In Islamic communities of
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
, bride exchange between two families has also been observed. It is locally called ''falen-ni-falen''. The practice is prevalent in rural parts of Yemen as well.


In Islam

''Shighar'' is the practice of exchanging brides between two families, where the girl and dowry of one family is exchanged for a girl and dowry from another family. This is prevalent in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries. This practice is often a means to reduce or evade dowry, and as such is prohibited in
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
,Shighar Marriage
Fatwa 275, The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2009)
although it is prevalent in Saudi Arabia.Child Brides
Cynthia Gorney, National Geographic, USA (June 2011)
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
is reported in
Sahih Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a '' hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. ...
and
Sahih Muslim Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century '' hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued b ...
to have said "There is no Shighar in Islam."


See also

* Baad *
Consanguinity Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor). Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...
* Double cousin * Honour killing in Pakistan *
Inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders a ...
*
Incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...
*
Vani (custom) Vani ( ur, ونی), or Swara (), is a custom found in parts of Pakistan where girls, often minors, are given in marriage or servitude to an aggrieved family as compensation to end disputes, often murder.cf. e.g. ''Samar Minallah v. Federation of P ...


References

{{Reflist * Zaman, Muhammad (2011) Exchange Marriages in South Punjab, Pakistan: A Sociological Analysis of Kinship Structure, Agency, and Symbolic Culture. Frankfurt (M)/ Berlin: Peter Lang Publisher


External links


Watta Satta: Exchange Marriage and Women’s Welfare in Rural Pakistan


* aman, Muhammad. 2011. Exchange Marriages in South Punjab, Pakistan: A Sociological Analysis of Kinship Structure, Agency, and Symbolic Culture. Frankfurt (M)/ Berlin: Peter Lang Publisher Marriage, unions and partnerships in Pakistan Marriage, unions and partnerships in Afghanistan Types of marriage