Wife selling was the practice of a husband selling his wife, in some cases to a new husband.
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The English custom of wife selling began in the late 17th century when divorce was a practical impossibility for all but the very wealthiest. After parading his wife with a halter around her neck, arm, or waist, a husband would publicly auction her to the highest bidder. Although the custom had no basis in law and frequently resulted in prosecution, particularly from the mid-19th century onwards, the attitude of the authorities was equivocal. At least one early 19th-century magistrate is on record as stating that he did not believe he had the right to prevent wife sales, and there were cases of local Poor Law Commissioners forcing husbands to sell their wives, rather than having to maintain the family in workhouses. The English custom of wife selling spread to Wales, Scotland, Australia,[1] and the United States before dying out in the early 20th century.
The Chinese custom of wife selling or selling a divorce (Chinese: 以财买休) has a long history, spanning both the Imperial and Modern eras.
The earliest documentation of the practice appears in Yuan Dynasty law dating to the 14th century. At that time, two types of wife selling were recognized, both considered illegal. The first type was when a husband sold his wife to a man with whom she had been committing adultery. The second type was when a husband sold his wife because she had betrayed him or because they were no longer able to get along. During the Ming Dynasty, it was gradually established that only wife selling which was motivated by adultery should be punished. By 1568, wife selling was explicitly authorized by the law in several circumstances. Authorized wife selling was preserved by Qing Dynasty lawmakers, as was the prohibition against selling a wife to her lover.[2]
As the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949,[3] wife selling was prohibited and the government took measures to eradicate the practice.[4] During the famines caused by the Great Leap Forward wife selling occurred in many of the poorer areas.[5] As of 1997, the custom was still occasionally reported in some rural areas of the country.[6]
Japanese immigration to Hawaii was promoted during the late 19th century, but their number included a low proportion of women.[7] The first generation of Japanese immigrants to the islands (Issei) lived at a distance from their original communities. According to Eileen Tamura, this isolation, combined with failure of the expectation of earning enough to return, resulted in a temporary disintegration of social norms, and the disintegration led to wife-selling.[8] The sheriff of the island of Hawaii, E. G. Hitchcock, wrote in 1892 that "I wish to call your attention to the fact, more or less prevalent on this island, of the Japanese selling their wives or mistresses to each other."[7] In 1901 and 1904, the sheriff of Maui wrote that "In connection with Japanese the custom they have of trafficing [sic] in their women, buying and selling their wives is an evil that should be looked into," and proposed that laws explicitly prohibiting wife-selling be enacted.[7] In a personal narrative related by Joan Hori, the question "Why would anyone want a second-hand wife?" was posed; the response was that the prospect of a wife already present in the islands was more certain than that of a picture bride.[7]
Wife selling occurred in Europe in addition to that in Britain.[9] In Hungary, in 1114, the Synod of Gran said, "When a wife of noble birth or aristocracy has left her husband for the third time, she receives mercy, but when she is from the common people, she is sold."[10] Germans "considered the wife as negotiable property ... [and] sold them to the conquering Romans".[11]
In rural India, in the late 20th century, wives have been sold, including in the region of Bundelkhand. When loans from wealthy men, as "unofficial lenders",[12] have high interest and the interest accumulates, "lenders demand payment. Some farmers .... say because of years of little rain and bad harvests they are forced to give money lenders whatever they ask for. Sometimes that includes their wives."[12] Cases may be reported to the police. However, "Ranjana Kumari with India's Center for Social Research .... says ... there is little support for women in India who have the courage to file a case with authorities.... '[T]he women themselves tend to withdraw these cases.'"[12] The Indian government in 1998 said in a report, according to CNN, "the region is prone to what it calls 'atrocities,' including the buying and selling of women."[13] "Social workers say this isn't just about poverty, but also an indication of the low social status of women in poverty-stricken areas such as Bundelkhand."[13] While "the status of women and girls ... [is] low ...., attitudes are slowly beginning to change, Kumari says."[13] The frequency of such cases is unknown.[13]
A wife being subject to sale was a consequence of her being a man's property, according to sociologist Alvin John Schmidt.[14] The religious Commandment against coveting one's neighbor's wife has as part of its basis that "the wife is definitely seen as property", wrote Schmidt.[15] Christians and earlier Hebrews were, according to Schmidt, influenced by the belief that "woman [was] ... unequal to man",[16] producing "sexist theology".[17] Schmidt argued that teachers of Judeo-Christian tradition who teach on this Commandment "without drawing attention to the property concept of woman"[15] "might [be] ... unknowingly contributing to sexual inequality."[15] Inequality and inferiority are, according to Schmidt, "negative".[18]
Wife selling was criticized by Pope Gregory VII in the 11th century,[19] although at other times the Christian church supported it.[20]