one author who demonstrates this is katherine lynch she concludes that the fact that western europe has not seen noticeable levels of missing women since the th century can be ascribed to family structures opportunities for paid labour and elements of christianity that had long been present this stands in sharp contrast to both the historical and the presentday experience of countries such as india and china another example is that of the western european marriage pattern which emerged in the late middle ages and was characterised by a shift from parental to individual consent to marriage decisions