What States Have Legal Polygamy

Some countries where polygamy is legal are not signatories to the ICCPR, including Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan and the United Arab Emirates; so that the ICCPR does not apply to these countries. [152] The Department of Justice Canada has argued that polygamy is a violation of international human rights law. [153] Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states. But Utah`s law is unique in that a person can be convicted of not only having two legal marriage licenses, but also of living with another adult in a marriage-like relationship if they are already legally married to someone else. The vast majority of Muslim-majority sovereign states recognize polygamous marriages: these states stretch from West Africa to Southeast Asia, with the exception of Israel, Turkey and Tunisia. [140] The Palestinian territories—consisting of the West Bank and Gaza Strip—allow polygamous connections for Muslim citizens of the territories. [141] Members of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) practice polygamy in arranged marriages that often, but not always, bring young girls together with older men. Most FLDS members live in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, about 350 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, along with other communities in Canada, Texas, and other parts of the North American West. This subsection of Christianity is known for its historically atypical attitude toward polygamy. In the United States, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Utah, practiced polygamy from 1847 to 1890, which it called “plural marriage.” The U.S.

government made polygamy illegal in 1862, mostly in response to the LDS Church. The church, recognizing that support for polygamy prevented the state of Utah, banned the practice in 1890, and the church`s founder, Joseph Smith, disavowed the practice in 1904. Some small Mormon groups that have split from the LDS Church still practice polygamy, as do some members of society as a whole, but these unions are not legally registered or recognized. Debates on the legalization of polygamous marriages continue in Central Asian countries. [ref. needed] In Canada, polygamy is an offence under section 293 of the Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of up to five years` imprisonment,[3] but prosecution is rare. As of January 2009, no one had been prosecuted for polygamy in Canada for over sixty years. [4] That changed in 2014 when polygamy charges were laid against Winston Blackmore and James Oler. [5] A 2005 report by the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre recommended that Canada decriminalize polygamy: “Criminalization is not the most effective way to address gender inequality in polygamous and pluralistic union relations. In addition, it may violate the constitutional rights of the parties concerned. [7] Predominant Christian nations generally do not allow polygamy, with a few exceptions such as the Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Zambia. The bill passed the legislature in February with overwhelming support, though it faced some opposition from advocacy groups who argued it normalized what they called an inherently oppressive practice and allowed for the abuse of women and children.

Polygamy is the general and neutral term for any marriage between three or more people. Polygyny is a specific term used to describe a marriage involving a husband and at least two wives. It is by far the most common (and commonly legal) form of polygamy. Polyandry is a specific term used to describe marriages between a woman and at least two husbands. On 5 May 2011, long-term cohabitation between unmarried people, known as união estável (“stable union”), was extended to same-sex couples, recognized as a family unit and recognized as the set of 112 rights of married couples – the only legal difference with marriage is that it does not change individual marital status from single to married. [ref. Henderson added that she was not trying to legalize polygamy or multiple marriage licenses, but was trying to “solve the human rights crisis created by our law.” Prosecutors used the part of Utah`s cohabitation law to prosecute Utah polygamists for bigamy. She faces up to five years in prison. Polygamy is the term used to describe a marriage between three or more people. Polygamy contrasts with monogamy, which is a marriage between only two people. While monogamy is the standard approach to marriage in Europe and America, polygamy is common in much of Africa and the Middle East, and is also observed in parts of Southeast Asia. Ultimately, however, according to Pew Research in 2020, “only about 2% of the world`s population lives in polygamous households.” Polygamy is illegal in Mexico, despite a few cases there.

In the Federal Penal Code, there is a section entitled “Against civil status and bigamy” The legal status of polygamy varies widely around the world. Polygamy is legal in 58 of the approximately 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of which are Muslim-majority countries. Polyandry is illegal in virtually all countries and strictly forbidden in Islam. [ref. needed] Several non-Muslim countries (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa) allow polygamy among Muslims in their communities. Some countries that allow polygamy have restrictions, such as requiring the first wife to give consent. In 2000, the UN Human Rights Committee reported that polygamy violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), fearing that the lack of “equal treatment with regard to the right to marry” meant that polygamy, which in practice was limited to polygamy, violated women`s dignity and should be prohibited. [148] In particular, reports to UN committees have identified violations of the ICCPR because of these inequalities,[149] and reports to the UN General Assembly have recommended its prohibition. [150] [151] Note: These countries are included separately because they have specific laws aimed only at Muslims. Many prominent Jewish leaders, including Abraham, David, and Jacob, are described in the Torah as polygamous/plural marriages. However, like all but a few contemporary Christians (whose Old Testament mirrors the Torah), modern Jews have denied this practice.

After Joseph Smith`s death, polygamy continued in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), then led by Brigham Young. In the area that became Utah and some surrounding areas, plural marriage was openly practiced by followers of the LDS Church. In 1852 Young felt safe enough at LDS Church in Utah to publicly announce his practice of polygamy. However, opposition from the U.S. government threatened the legal status of the LDS Church. Wilford Woodruff announced on September 25, 1890 that the LDS Church had officially abandoned the practice. Woodruff`s declaration was officially accepted at a general conference of the Church on October 6, 1890. The LDS Church`s position on the practice of polygamy was reaffirmed in 1904 by another official statement entitled “Second Manifesto”, reaffirming polygamy. [27] In 2007, the Attorney General of British Columbia raised concerns about whether this prohibition was constitutional, and an independent British Columbia prosecutor recommended that Canadian courts be called upon to rule on the constitutionality of laws against polygamy. [8] The Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld section 293 of the Criminal Code against Polygamy of Canada and other related legislation in a 2011 reference.

[9] [10] On March 9, 2018, the Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld the constitutionality of Canada`s anti-polygamy laws. [11] For decades, bigamy was a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. The new law makes it a violation and puts crime on an equal footing with receiving a ticket. Buddhists view marriage as a secular matter rather than a sacrament. As such, each Buddhist country has its own position on polygamy. For example, Thailand legalized polygamy in 1955, while Myanmar banned polygamy in 2015. In 1953, the state of Arizona investigated and searched a group of 385 people in the polygamous settlement of Hildale and Colorado City, which stretched across the Utah-Arizona border. All the men were arrested and the children were placed with foster families. A judge eventually declared the action illegal, and all returned to the community, which now numbers about 10,000 people. [40] In some African countries, polygamy is illegal under civil law, but still permitted under customary law, where acts traditionally accepted by a particular culture are considered legal.

This arguably confusing loophole leads to two types of marriages: “civil” marriages and “habitual” or “religious” marriages, and allows countries like Liberia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone to allow and even support polygamous marriages without formally recognizing them.