Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) is a
men's rights group in India. It is a registered, non-funded, non-profit,
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
(NGO) and works with various like-minded NGOs in India. Men in this foundation are against feminism.
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History
Founded in 2005, SIFF is an advocacy group against what it calls misuse of Indian laws related to
dowry
A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...
harassment.
It is an umbrella organisation of a number of men's and family rights organisations spanned across Indian cities and provinces.
SIFF has supported the founding of other like-minded organisations, such as the "All India Mother in Laws Protection Forum"
and "All India Men's Welfare Association".
In 2010, the group claimed on its website to have "30,000 members on the ground and over 3,500 on the internet who are fighting this legal terrorism with vigour and passion like commandos".
Activities
SIFF created an app and a helpline for men, which got over 25,000 phone calls in four months.
The group campaigned against domestic violence legislation (such as
Section 498a of the Indian Penal Code, (1983) and the
Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act 2005), stating that these laws have been misused, and manipulated by Indian women. They assert that men are abused physically and are subject to legal, mental and social harassment by their wives because of these laws,
and that lawyers and women use them to extort money and family property and to deny child custody to fathers.
SIF members have sought to have the laws made
gender neutral
Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, Gender-neutral language, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) ...
and be amended to include protection of men against abuse by women.
The media comments that the organization is insensitive to high rates of domestic physical abuse committed against women in India
In addition, they note the organization's use of 'strong language', including describing as "terrorist activity" the support given by women groups for the domestic violence legislation, and describing the women politicians who spearhead the legislation as “modern
Surpanakhas”.
SIFF asserts that dowry harassment of women and their families is a figment of the feminist imagination,
and that the woman is the abuser in almost all cases of family abuse.
They campaign for decrimininalisation of anti-dowry offences, with the threat of imprisonment removed.
In contrast, police and women's groups have denied the group's claims of widespread misuse of anti-dowry laws, stating that only a small minority abuse the law,
and the approximately 7000
deaths
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sho ...
of women every year who die due to
dowry
A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...
demands.
SIFF has also advocated for the creation of a Men's Commission in India. SIFF also protested against the
2010 Amendment to the Marriage Act.
SIFF also spoke out against a 2022 court petition which could criminalize
marital rape
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and doesn't always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of dome ...
, and sponsored a "marriage strike".
Elections
SIFF ran an independent candidate, Satish Babu SN, in the
2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
The 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 12 May 2018 in 222 constituencies to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The election was postponed in Jayanagar, Bangalore, Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore, Rajarajeshwa ...
from
B.T.M Layout constituency; he finished 7th, gathering 333 votes (0.24% of the total valid votes).
See also
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Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
*
Antifeminism
Antifeminism or anti-feminism is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educational opportunities, property righ ...
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Feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
*
Dowry system in India
The dowry system in India refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the groom, his parents and his relatives as a condition of the marriage. Dowry is called "दहेज" in Hindi and as ' ...
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Masculism
Masculism or masculinism may variously refer to ideologies and socio-political movements that seek to eliminate discrimination against men, or increase adherence to or promotion of attributes regarded as typical of males. The terms may also re ...
*
Misandry
Misandry () is the hatred of or prejudice against men or boys. Earliest recorded use: 1885. "No man whom she cared for had ever proposed to marry her. She could not account for it, and it was a growing source of bitterness, of misogyny as wel ...
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Misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...
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No-fault divorce
No-fault divorce is the dissolution of a marriage that does not require a showing of wrongdoing by either party. Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party of the marria ...
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Domestic violence against men
References
{{Reflist
External links
Organization website
Human rights organisations based in India
Men's movement in India
Organizations established in 2005
2005 establishments in India