"Bedias are a marginal north Indian de-notified community, large segments of whom survive entirely on the prostitution of their young, unmarried womenfolk. This book is a detailed account, first of its kind, of the implications of the systematic practice of familial prostitution on the kinship structures and marriage practices of this community." "Tracing the relatively recent origins of the practice in the community, the author goes on to explore the manner in which this familial economy manifests itself in the lives of individual women and the kind of family groupings it produces. Remarkably, the Bedias distinguish clearly between sisters and daughters who engage in prostitution, and wives and daughter's-in-law who do not. The book also examines the repercussions of Bedia women's prostitution on the lives of their men. The resolution of the problem of Bedia men's marriage that arises out of the non-marriage of Bedia women and how the wives become repositories of female chastity are also dealt with in detail. The book recasts the debate on whether prostitute women are agents or victims in a new light by giving it an empirical locus." "Those in the fields of sociology, anthropology, history and feminist studies, and specifically those interested in issues of trafficking, violence, family and kinship will find this a fascinating book.

"--BOOK JACKET.