Polygamy : Human Rights And Civil Liberties

Marriage is a social institution that is practiced globally. Traditionally marriages are known to occur between one man and one woman. However, cultural values and time have reshaped and birthed new types of marriages. Polygamy is a type of marriage that is often practiced around the world specifically in Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Polyamorous marriages have been in existence for centuries. Polygamy is classified into two categories, polygyny, and polyandry. Polygyny is the most popular type of polygamy, in this type of polygamous marriage, a man is married to multiple women. On the other hand, polyandry which is the least familiar type of polygamy is where a woman is married to multiple husbands. The intolerance of Mormons in the United States has led to the outlawing of polyamorous marriages. The Morrill Anti Bigamy law of 1862 outlawed the practice of polygamy in the United States. Like many other laws, this law can be overturned. In fact, it should be reversed because illegalizing polygamy is unethical. Polygamy should be legalized because it is unconstitutional for it to be illegal, same-sex marriages and interracial marriages are legal, therefore so should polyamorous marriages. In addition, legalizing polygamy would prevent immigrant families who practice polygamy from being separated and it would also strengthen the feminist movement.

Although marriage is a societal value, there has been a sharp increase in the instances of alternative family relationships, a phenomenon the law has been relatively quick to respond to. BOCSAR figures show that from 1987 to 2007, the number of married couples developed from 63% to 62%, which in the same period the number of de facto relationships (both heterosexual and homosexual) grew from 6% to 9%. As such, a new movement sources desire for

Most would equate their struggle and first for equality to gay marriage. This is mostly due to so much acceptance of those individuals that do not fit the mold of the typical monogamous man and women marriage. We are far from a city that is accepting of this union or are we? Recently families who practice polygamy have been in the public increasingly. Modern day television series such as the Sister Wives follows a family in a polygamous union who documents their day to day life and the struggle that we mentioned in the previous paragraph. This family lives their life in peace which reverts back to my stance on the issue in which the laws that currently exist around polygamy unions are good as they are. Reporter Amy Robek of the 20/20 news show reported on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints Polygamy Compound in a documentary titled “Secrets of the Mormon Cult: Breaking Polygamy”. This documentary was filmed after the prosecution of the cult leader of the FLDS compound Warren Jeff’s. They got a rare inside look on what life is like within compounds, shedding light to outsiders the daily operations and schedules the sheltered people. What they discovered was these families are hold a lower standard of education, health care, and nutritional values. From

The Canadian nation prides itself on being accepting of its diversity and multiculturalism. One specific area many are grateful for the diversity and openness within Canada, is marriage; the legal or formal recognition of two individuals as partners in a relationship. (Google, 2014). With the consistent flow of immigration, marriage between the majority populations of White European people has increased between the Minority populations, including, but not limited to African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and American Indians. This stated, society still holds many judgements and stereotypes about the formation of these relationships and interracial marriage. How societal views have changed over the past few decades, opinions of those

This week and posts from other classmates brought the realization to myself that as a country we must have limits to multiculturalism and the allowing of cultural practices. Family equality and safety are the utmost priority within this sphere; although religion is a personal right one must remember our laws and legislation and abide by such. “To allow Sharia law to be practiced in Canada, especially in the legal system, would be a regression in human rights” (Ottenbreit, August 13, 2014, Sociology

The next argument the Plaintiff makes is about how damaging polygamy would be on our society, especially for women. The prosecutors refer to Reynolds v. United States (1878) and mention how other countries that allow Polygamy have a high rate of discrimination toward women. Therefore, the Plaintiff is arguing that allowing Polygamy would negatively affect the individual rights of women in the United States. The Plaintiff quotes Justice Waite’s opinion, “and from the earliest history of England Polygamy has been treated as an offense against society.” The Defendant, should not be allowed multiple wives, because it will lead to a more patriarchal society. The women in this civil contract would be limited due to the men of this religion having more control of

In Millennium: Strange Relations, presented by David Maybury Lewis examines the concept of marriage by focusing on three different groups the Nyimba of Nepal, Wodaabe of Niger, finally a Canada (Western European viewpoint). Lewis also examines the concepts of monogamy, fraternal polyandry, and polygyny with the respective case studies.

​Canada is often seen as a leader in the gay rights movement and it has a long history of providing rights to those that identify as homosexual (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016; Cotler, 2015). As far back as 1969, Prime Minister Trudeau passed Bill C-150 which amended the Criminal Code to decriminalize “gross indecency” and “buggery”; if committed between two consenting adults if they are over 21 (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). The Code was further amended to drop the age of consent for anal sex from 18 and 14 for other sexual activity and it was recognized that a higher age for consent of anal sex was unconstitutional (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). Since then there have been many changes to the political and social system in Canada to be able to improve the rights not only individuals whom are part of the LGBTQ community, but also for those whom are in same sex relationships (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). As of 2005, same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada; however, there is still debate of whether or not same-sex legalization has legitimized same-sex partnerships within society (Colter, 2015). Many cases that have come before the court regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriages have argued that the actions of society are a direct violation of people’s s.15 rights in the Constitution; which allows for every person to be treated equally and bear the freedom of religion (Supreme Court Judgements, 2004). It will be argued that Canada has created equal rights for

The proposed legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most significant issues in contemporary American family law. As a heavily campaigned development currently discussed in law assessment; these extremely confrontational and debatable political questions are facing present day American courts. If same-sex marriage is legalized, its affect on the parents, children, same sex couples, families, and the social and political world will be astronomical. The arguments surrounding the issue though confrontational nonetheless are easily seen from a wide array of perspectives. One of the perspectives states that marriage is a promise to a spouse to stay loyal and faithful in all

A woman pushes as hard as she can for the last time. “It’s a baby girl!” the man announces, as the new mother hangs her head in sight of the hardships her baby, Elizabeth, will face. Miles away in a hospital, another woman gives birth to a healthy baby girl, Marley. As she sees her baby for the first time, she smiles knowing all the great adventures this baby will experience in her life. The polygamous mom takes the little girl home to her family, a family where she has more than one mother and many brothers and sisters. As she grows up she lives her life trying to be “proper” and “sweet” in the eyes of the prophet. Somewhere far away, Marley is outside playing with her mother and learning how to be a kid. At the age of fourteen, young girls like Marley are innocent and should be going on dates, having fun with friends, and living their life, but for a fourteen year old Elizabeth, she is married to a man twice her age to be his second wife. As she begins her life with her husband, she sees the jealousy of the first wife and the neglect she feels by her presence. Shortly after, the young girl is replaced by another new wife after having a child. Ever since the day she was born, she had no control over these stages happening. Her fate was determined from time of birth and is determined by men until the day she dies. Her fate will be ruled by the religion of Polygamy.

"Polygamy: Every one who practises or enters into or in any manner agrees or consents to practise or enter into any form of polygamy, or any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time, whether or not it is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage, or (b) celebrates, assists or is a party to a rite, ceremony, contract or consent that purports to sanction a relationship. If found guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.” (Criminal Code,1985) The criminal code provides a penalty of up to 5 years in prison but prosecutions are rare. Despite the religious beliefs, polygamy should remain illegal and should be enforced strictly. Polygamy brings on various legal

Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse and is culturally accepted in many parts of the world, but is illegal in the United States. There are two well known forms of polygamy, both of which are still presently practiced in numerous cultures globally, polygyny and polyandry. These practices take place in societies where it is important to have either more men or more women in a families’ household based on the kind of environment they reside in. This paper is going to take a look at who practices polygamy, the history of polygamy in the United States, and how this kind of polygamous lifestyle affects the children that are the products of these family structures.

The topic has a close connection to the Humanities and Social Sciences field as it raises an issue of women’s marginalization and oppression being a part of polygamy implementation in society. In contemporary world when the women rights movements and feminism ideology play a prominent role in the international community, polygamy and its effects on women cannot remain unnoticed. Functioning on a base of religious beliefs, culture or traditions, polygamy in many communities is considered as an inevitable part of people’s lives. Therefore, it is important to examine the presence and extent of mental disorders of women as a result of involvement in polygamous family structure. Moreover, this paper will aim to prove the negative impact of

Historic change in American matrimony is especially pronounced in three areas: the equalizing of the respective rights and duties of wives and husbands, the dissolution of marital prohibitions based on race, and the evolution from state-defined grounds for divorce to couple-defined no fault divorce. The most recent area of debate is whether the state should sanction marital consent between same-sex couples. Although such a prospect is unthinkable to some, earlier forms of legal marriage are equally unimaginable now.

The same-sex marriage issue has ignited worldwide. Joseph Chamie- the previous director- and Barry Mirkin-the previous Population Policy Section Chief- of the UN’s Population Division aim to present up-to-date statistics and information on the same-sex marriage debate in “Same-Sex Marriage: A New Social Phenomenon.” They mention that same-sex marriage is a “recent phenomenon” that will possibly stick around for years in many countries because societal, religious, and legislative controversies continually revamp its debate (544). The issue is labeled “recent” because “…SSM [same-sex marriage] did not exist until the twenty-first century when an increasing number of countries began permitting same-sex