________________
times have you offered a bribe in the past five years?" The subsequent question asked the
reasons for offering bribes.
The first set of data, presented below, was significant in the same way as the
dowry data. While the overall numbers of Anuvratis who had given bribes were slightly
lower than the number of non-Anuvratis, the interesting point was that despite having
taken vows not to participate in bribery, still 34% of the respondents said they had
participated. I will note also that because a large number of my participants were women,
who have far fewer opportunities to engage in bribery, the overall percentage of Anuvrati
men who engage in the behavior may be even higher. This again reflects the strength of
the social pressures in India to conform to such a practice.
Table 5. "Have You Accepted or Offered Bribery in the Past Five Years?"
11-20
None
2-5 Times
6-10 Times
Total
Times
Regularly
11
Anuvrati
17 16%
106 100%
6.6%
0.9%
10.4%
70 66%
36 56.2%
NonAnuvrati
Anuprati
562%
12 18.8%
18,3%
|
9.4%
3.1%
64 100%
12.5%
Total
106 62.4%
29 17.1%
13 7.6%
1.8%
19 11.2%
170 100%
The second set of data, presented below, demonstrates a clear trend in that the
higher the socio-economic status, the higher is the rate of engaging in bribery.
67
