The condition of women in Indian society of 19th century was very pitiable. They lived a hell like life because of many social evils like Sati system, female infanticide, slavery system, purdah-system, restriction on widow remarriage, polygamy, etc. To remove these evils from the Indian society, many socio-religious movements were started in 19th century.

Main Social Evils Related to Women

1. Girl Child Infanticide: Birth of a girl, in society, was not considered as good for the family. It had many reasons. First of all, parents had to spent a lot of money on marriage of their daughter which was out of reach of a common man. Secondly, it was very difficult for parents to find a suitable partner for their daughter. Thirdly, if any parents were unable to marry their daughter, it was also not considered good for the family. That’s why many people killed their daughters exactly after their birth.

2. Child Marriage: Parents used to get their daughters married at an early age. That’s why generally girls remained illiterate. If husband of any girl died in his early age then she was forced to go for Sati or she had to live whole of her life as widow.

3. Sati System: According to the custom of Sati system, if husband of any female dies then she has to set on the funeral pyre of husband. In this way she was forced to go for Sati system.

4. Restriction on Widow marriage: Widow marriage was severely restricted by society. Widow was disrespected in society. She was forced to have hair cut and she was forced to wear white clothes for whole of her life.

5. Purdah System: According to Purdah system, females had to live in Purdah for whole of their life. It had a very bad impact on their health and progress.

6. Dowry System: According to Dowry system, girls are given dowry at the time of their marriage. Poor people were forced to take loan from money-lenders to give dowry. That’s why many girls were forced to commit suicide.

7. Illiteracy of Women: Most of the people did not care about giving education to their girls. Giving them education was considered useless so that they could not become self-dependent. Giving education to girls was also considered dangerous for society.

8. Not giving property rights to women in Hindu Society: Women, in Hindu Society, were not given any right over ancestral property.