SAY NO TO PRO-POLYGAMY

LEGISLATION!

“Polygamous marriage contravenes a woman's right to equality with men, and can have such serious emotional and financial consequences for her and her dependents that such marriages

ought to be discouraged and prohibited.” 1

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

Pro-polygamy legislation (including decriminalization) would enable the uninhibited promotion and spread of this damaging practice, and victimize the victims even more by negating their status. The United Nations and many countries of the world advocate banning polygamy. British Columbia, Canada, has denounced it as “inherently abusive,” and many women in polygamous countries are working actively for its abolition.

However, a few very visible pro-polygamy activists in the state of Utah are working zealously for its acceptance. In the light of this campaign, we respectfully remind legislators of the impropriety of altering law to accommodate what in most cases amounts to significant harm in the guise of religion. We therefore urge that you resist all pressure to take action either condoning or enabling this destructive practice.

“There is no good polygamy”

Human Rights Abuse

Coercion

Mental Distress

Poverty for Women & Children

High Welfare Use

Underage Sexual Relations

Unstable Environment for Children

Contravention of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)2

Weakened Father-Child Bonding

“Lost Boys”

Increased Violence

Social De-stabilization

Inequality for Women

All are good reasons for saying

NO TO PRO-POLYGAMY

LEGISLATION2

S u p r e m e C o u r t O f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , C a n a d a

”The harms associated with the practice are endemic; they are inherent. This conclusion is critical because it supports the view that the harms found in polygynous societies are not simply the product of individual misconduct; they arise inevitably out of the practice.”

(Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada. Reference re: Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada, 2011 BCSC 1588)

Analogous to ‘Gay

Marriage’?A RESOUNDING

NO!CONSENTING ADULTS? Polygamy is NOT simply a matter of “consenting adults” making their own “lifestyle choice.” Many adult women enter polygamous relationships under psychological and emotional duress, believing that their eternal soul is in danger of destruction if they refuse to participate.10 Many do not leave polygamy for the same reasons.

Numerous Muslim and Fundamentalist women believe that it is not lawful for them to refuse their husband’s wishes to take more wives, and in fact are not always consulted on the matter. We consider this to be abusive. This constitutes 99% of all polygamy in the United States. We agree with the United Nations that polygamy causes emotional distress and financial hardship as indicated by the high incidence of depression found in women in polygamy.

ANALOGOUS TO “GAY MARRIAGE?” NO! Committed gay relationships involve couples with the potential for balanced power sharing (i.e. no single partner has the sole right to introduce new sexual partners for himself or herself). There is no comparable emotional or psychological pressure to enter a gay relationship in the first place. A monogamous relationship is inherently more stable.

POVERTY. As a man accumulates more women, financial resources inevitably diminish, affecting those women and their children. Polygamous fathers who cannot support their children may have the state do it instead via welfare use. (Essentially you support the practice.3)

! FAMILY INSTABILITY. ! Children thrive on stability, but in

polygamy, where the dynamics may change at any time as the father adds multiple partners; there is uncertainty for children, and family instability. Shifting a man’s focus from “wife-seeking” and trying to maintain multiple relationships, to investing in being a father, is beneficial for all.4 Polygamy decreases the amount of one-on-one time spent by fathers with their children. Time constraints also affect a woman whose emotional needs may not be met as her partner spends increasingly more time with other women.

UNDERAGE SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS. Polygamy fosters illegal underage sexual relations as intense competition for women in polygamist communities drives down the age at which girls are considered ready for “marriage.” This leads to the abuses of so-called “child brides.”5 Warren Jeffs and the FLDS are not the only offenders. Some Pro-polygamy groups advocate the entire repeal of the Child Bigamy Laws.6 Since current laws in many states allow parents to give consent for children of 16 or even 15 years of age to be married; pro-polygamy legislation could allow girls of that age to be “married” to much older men with multiple “wives.”

SOCIALLY DESTABILIZING. The ratio of men to women in the world is almost equal.7 Because of this, one man who removes multiple partners from the pool of available women effectively denies other men the choice of any partner. This has resulted in the “Lost Boys” phenomenon. Such imbalances foster societal violence and criminality.8

SEXUAL ABUSE. Polygamy has greater potential for sexual abuse. Family boundaries become blurred, and one child abuser with multiple partners and a large number of children has greater scope for sexual depredation. Sadly, some victims will become abusers themselves, and if they continue the cultural practice of multiple partners and children, the abuse increases exponentially.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM? Muslim polygamy is a “permissive” practice within Islam, not a religious duty. Banning its practice within the United States is not an infringement of Moslems’ religious rights. Where individuals and groups claim polygamy as an essential religious practice, United States law permits freedom of religious belief, but rightly denies freedom of religious practice when that practice conflicts with basic human rights and promotes inequities and abuses.9

WOMEN’S RIGHTS. Polygamy is an unequal arrangement. Pro-polygamy legislation would signify to women and girls that their rights are less important than the rights of men. Do not be duped by the “happy face” of polygamy. In this practice a woman’s “worthiness” is measured by her outward expressions of approval for the practice (whatever her sufferings might be).

3

1 “Good Practices in Legislation on ‘Harmful Practices’ against Women.” Expert Group Meeting 26. United Nations. Un.org. (29 May, 2009). Web 18 Aug 2011.

2 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. http:// www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm

3  “Paul Murphy, spokesman for former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, said that while there may not be ‘outright fraud’ by the polygamous community, there is ‘a resentment that taxpayers are being used to support this lifestyle.’” “If you are going to have three wives and 15 children, you need to figure out a way to support three wives and 15 children,” Adams, Brooke. The Salt Lake Tribune. 4 Jan 2009. Web 18 Aug 2011.

4 Heinrich, Joseph. Affidavit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia No S-097767. Pages 24ff. 25 Jul 2010 Reported in the Vancouver Sun Web 18 Aug 2011.

5 See note 4.

6 “Principle Voices’ Position on Current Issues.” PrincipleVoices web site.

7 In 2011 the ratio was just slightly more men than women. ”World Demographics Profile 2011.” Index Mundi. Web. 18 Aug 2011

8 Heinrich, Joseph, et al. “The Puzzle of Monogamous Marriage.” Review."doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0290, 657-669 367, 2012Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B.

9 Gedicks, Frederick Mark. “The Permissible Scope of Legal Limitations on the Freedom of Religion or Belief in the United States.” Emory International Law Review Vol. 19 p 1200. Web 18 Aug 2011.

10 Doctrine and Covenants 132:34. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. LDS.org. Web. 18 Aug 2011. (Please note that this is Fundamentalist Mormon interpretation of this passage, and is not LDS interpretation or practice.)

”The harms associated with the practice are endemic; they are inherent. This

conclusion is critical because it supports the view that the harms found in

polygynous societies are not simply the product of individual misconduct; they arise inevitably out of the practice.”

(Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada. Reference re: Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada, 2011

BCSC 1588).

Sound Choices Coalition is a partnership of organizations and individuals uniting

in an effort to end human rights violations due to polygamy and other

forms of patriarchal abuse.

s o u n d - c h o i c e s . c o m

1-801-635-7556

Information for State Representatives and the Concerned Public

soundchoicescoalition@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/SoundChoicesCoalition