Running head: POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 1

Polygamy: The Problem

Connor B. Mattison

Glendale Community College

POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 2

Abstract

This paper will discuss the problems that can be found in polygamous communities, and the

solutions to those problems. The problem is primarily found impacting women and children, who

are often the victims of these problems. The women and children in these societies are typically

seen as objects or competition by the older men. The paper discusses how polygamy leads to the

objectification and abuse of women and children, but also how these things restrict the natural

human rights of the women and children in polygamous areas. This paper also discusses current

laws in place that cover polygamy, and the issues with them. The paper uses articles and

accounts from real people who have been removed from polygamous communities to support the

main argument. Then the paper moves on to talk about the best way to solve the problem of

polygamy, and how to prevent polygamy from taking the natural human rights from women and

children. The overall intention of this paper is to point out the wrongs of polygamy and save the

human rights of thee people who have had and are currently having them restricted.
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 3

Polygamy: The Problem

I knew a few things before I researched about Polygamy and the problems it can cause. I

have always known polygamy to be an awful practice, and the society that I have known has

viewed it the same way. I knew that in a lot of polygamous societies women are treated as lesser,

and almost always the relationship is between one man and multiple women. Before my

research, I also believed that the children involved in polygamous families were treated poorly,

but I was unsure of the ways that they were mistreated. I have always been brought up with the

thought that marriage should be between two people, but I never knew the extent of the

repercussions in the relationships where there are more than two people. The truth is that a

polygamous relationship will most likely be a detriment to somebody in some way.

When I began my research I was not sure exactly what I wanted to find, but I knew the

general idea of where I wanted to start. I wanted to know how severely polygamy can impact

people, whether the impact is towards males or females, and if it is seen more in the young or the

old. I also wanted to find out what happens to those people who escaped or in some other way

got out of a polygamous society, and how they talk about their life in the society versus how they

live now. During my research I also wanted to find out what laws are in place against polygamy,

and how they might differ in different areas. While researching about the current laws in place, I

wanted to find out if the laws are effective or not, as well as why they are or are not effective.

For the laws that are not effective, my plan is to change and more thoroughly enforce the laws to

give the natural human rights back to the victims of polygamy. Polygamous relationships destroy

the natural human rights of women and children, and most communities that support polygamous

relationships have also shown instances of serious crimes involving the sexual abuse of women
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 4

and children; however, the laws currently in place against polygamy have been proven to be

ineffective, so the most effective solution to the problem now is to revise the current laws and

bans in place and enforce them all around the US and in Canada.

The word polygamy is used to describe a marriage between more than two people. This is

typically seen between one man and multiple women. In the past this was an accepted practice,

but as time went on it became more and more taboo to do. In the modern day United States,

polygamy is mainly, if not only, seen in Mormon and Amish societies. One article from a child

that grew up in a Mormon household states that “My father, Brigham young, had fifty-six living

children...Thirty-one of the number were girls; twenty-five were boys,” (Lee Lerner, 2006). The

father of the family had multiple wives, but the article did not state the exact amount. This is just

an example of what polygamous families would look like, and still look like today.

The problem with this lifestyle is when it begins to infringe on the human rights of those

involved. The problem becomes a noticeable issue when outsiders and those who have escaped

from polygamous societies see and inform others of the atrocities in the community. The primary

victims of the terrible actions in polygamous societies are women and children. Women are

objectified, and can often fall victim to sexual abuse. “Winston Blackmore, the former bishop of

Bountiful, had 28 wives in 2001 and 80 children, numbers which have probably since increased,”

(Cockburn, 2009, p.56). Since women are often seen only as objects in these polygamous

communities, a multitude of women can be married off to a single man. However, Women are

not the only target of the malicious ways of polygamy. Children can also be abused in the same

ways, and often fall prey to the older men of the community.
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 5

Polygamy has been around for thousands of years, and it has not been ridiculed for what

it does to others. The reasoning behind this is that it has been accepted by most of the people

who has known about in the past, but today it is seen as a very taboo and evil practice. The good

thing is that the problem is not as bad as it was in the past, since it is no longer an accepted norm.

It can no longer be seen in every country across the globe. The bad thing is that it still exists,

which means that people are still having their natural human rights withheld from them. In places

like the UK, Canada, and even some areas of the US, women and children continue to be

objectified and abused. “The common statement that plural marriage debases husbands, degrades

wives, and brutalizes offspring, is false. It was not the case in ancient Israel; it is far less so in

this enlightened age,” (Lee Lerner, 2006). This passage is taken from an article written in the

1890’s, stating that even in that time it was seen as a social atrocity, yet the societies that uphold

the traditions of polygamy continue to defend it with religious fervor.

“The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, got a new

prophet. His name is Warren Jeffs, and he achieved international infamy when he was recently

convicted of being an accomplice to rape for pressuring a 14-year-old-girl to marry her first

cousin,” (R&E Newsweekly, 2007). This historic tragedy was found out in 2007, and Warren

Jeffs was given a life sentence in prison. Jeffs would marry off young women, still children, and

have them raped by the old men that he married them off to. The aftermath of these people who

escaped from the polygamous community of Warren Jeffs showed detrimental impacts to their

health even after they were gone. They were taught that if they were not in the community they

would go to hell, and they would often turn to drugs, alcohol, and other harmful objects. The

justification for doing this was that they were “damned to hell anyways,” (R&E Newsweekly).
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 6

The personal accounts from those who escaped the community seem to come to a general

consensus that these groups need to be interfered with and stopped.

This issue should have seemingly been solved a long time ago, but it still remains in

small pockets in the US, and predominantly seen in Canada. The reason that it can still be found

in the US is due primarily to the fact that the small polygamous groups remaining are isolated

from the societies around them and from the law. As for Canada, the issue arises due to a flawed

system of law and unconstitutional bans that do not cover polygamy in the way that it should.

The women of the communities are even too afraid to get help from the domestic violence of

their polygamous relationships. “Their concern is that reaching out would "out" them as

polygamous wives, potentially triggering child-welfare investigations or criminal charges against

them... The 2011 opinion rejected a plea to "read down" the polygamy offence to exclude women

from its application. The court there suggested that women who consented to polygamy were

complicit in, rather than victims of, the offence,” (Campbell, 2017). The bans against polygamy

in Canada are ineffective and unconstitutional, and women should be seen as the victim of these

abuses instead of a criminal accomplice to them. These bans are created with the sole purpose of

defending those affected by polygamy, but instead they further impede on the rights of those who

need them most. “The ban is outdated, rarely and inequitably applied, and redundant. It fails to

achieve the ends it claims to serve - that is, the protection of women and children,” (Campbell,

2017).

This problem shows a large significance in modern society due to the excessive amount

of human rights that are taken away from women and children who live in polygamous

communities. Everybody deserves basic human rights, yet polygamy stands to tear them down.
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 7

The importance of recognizing the injustices of polygamy is paramount, and if the people falling

victim wish to have justice it is ultimately necessary. If this problem is not solved, people will

continue to be horrifically abused and treated as objects. Young girls will continue to be forcibly

married off to old men, and subjected to sexual abuse. Those who escape from these standing

societies can very easily turn to habits of drug and alcohol abuse, further justifying the need for

this problem to be solved. The problem with polygamy is seen on a multitude of occasions, and

each time involving the abuse of women or children. “Moore-Emmett says she fled Utah after

publishing a book, ​God's Brothel​, which detailed the abuse of women and children in

fundamentalist communities. "Women are vessels to be worn out in childbirth and girls are

having children at age 14, 15, 16," she has said,” (O’Brien, 2007). This, and many other personal

accounts, support the claims of child marriage and rape in polygamous communities, as well as

the statement that the women are seen only as objects for having children. Another reason why

this issue is so pressing is due to the fact that most people do not know about polygamy, or

simply refuse to care about it. According to the student survey conducted by C. Mattison

(personal communication, April 7, 2018) the people surveyed knew only a little or a moderate

amount about polygamy, and most of those surveyed did not care enough to learn any more

about polygamy. Along with this statistic, almost half of those surveyed believe that polygamy

causes abuse and objectification, but at the same time close to half do not feel like they know

enough about polygamy to have a solid opinion.

The general idea for a solution to this issue is to edit and further enforce the bans that

oppose polygamy and the communities that support it. One of the biggest regions to implement
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 8

these changes has been seen to be Canada, but the US could benefit from this solution as well.

The cost of this solution will be determined by the amount it would take to change the current

bans to be more constitutional towards the women and children of polygamous society. The best

way for everyone to help out with this solution is to have them vote for the law to change, and

help to enforce the law around Canada, as well as in the few pockets where polygamy still exists

in the US. The only training that would be required in this proposed solution is to train law

enforcement to better find polygamous societies and enforce the new law in place, while

recognizing the true victims of polygamy instead of unjustifiably making the victims into

criminals.

This solution should be applied on a multi-national scale. The biggest place that this

solution is needed is Canada, and I believe that is where this solution should start. It may take a

long time to implement this solution, since the court is already having trouble deciding what path

to take. “The children and women of Bountiful tell stories of wrenching abuse, and peaceful

contentment. The Supreme Court is given a simple but difficult and critical choice. To choose to

restrict the religious practice of some in the interests of preserving the traditional values of

Canadian culture, or to accede to another redefinition of marriage and accept the collateral

damage of broken lives in the name of freedom,” (Hebbert, 2013). This decision may take the

Supreme Court months to find the right path to take, or even years. What the Supreme Court fails

to recognize is that it is not only going against the traditional values of Canadian culture, but it is

also restricting the natural human rights that everyone deserves and needs. The Supreme Court

has a responsibility to uphold the human rights of every individual, and by allowing polygamy to

exist in the society they are allowing the human rights of certain individuals to be restricted.
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 9

Once this plan is implemented and the polygamous societies are disbanded, several interviews

should be conducted with former members of polygamy to evaluate just how effective the

solution really is. The point of the solution is to give the natural human rights back to those who

have lost them. This solution can be proven to be more effective than others due to the fact that it

strives to retain the human rights granted to all people. It does not just support culture, but it

supports every individual person and the rights they deserve. “Texas law enforcement authorities

removed 416 children from a fundamentalist Mormon compound after receiving a phone call

alleging sexual and physical abuse,” (Vere, 2013). Even around the US pockets of polygamy can

still be found, and with them comes the potential to violate the rights of those involved. The

purpose of my solution would be to implement changes to the current laws to give and enforce

the human rights that are taken from the victims of polygamy. The proposed solution will also

help to support the victims of polygamy instead of grouping them with the polygamous

criminals.

Researching this topic has opened my eyes to the true atrocities of polygamy. Before I

had known about objectification and possibly some minor abuse in polygamy, but I never knew

how bad it really was. I now know that women and children have their natural rights as humans

taken away from them. I never imagined that young girls would be forced to marry old men and

be forcibly impregnated by them. Along with this, I had never imagined that those who escaped

from polygamy would be so detrimentally affected. “What the majority of people do when they

leave is they get way hard into the drugs, alcohol, stuff like that,” (R&E Newsweekly, 2007).

The way they are raised in polygamous families radically affects the way they act once they

escape.
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 10

This topic is extremely important for people to know, since these communities still exist

and still restrict the rights of the women and children who are involved in them. Many people

value their own rights, so why should they ignore the same rights that someone else is having

ripped away from them? Nobody wishes to be mentally, physically, or sexually abused, but

people need to realize that this is the reality for many who are trapped in polygamous society.

“Allegations against FLDS members include the water ​torture​ of babies (holding children face

up under a running tap if they cry when spanked), marriage of girls as young as 12 or 14

(statutory rape), sexual, mental, and physical abuse of children, immigration fraud, unfair

treatment of young men,” (Hebbert, 2013). People need to know the extent of the extreme

injustices caused by polygamy, so they can realize that polygamy needs to end. The larger

implications of this issue is the history and culture of Mormon society. Polygamy has been a

norm of Mormon history, but “​Polygamy was outlawed by the Mormon Church more than 100

years ago,” (R&E Newsweekly, 2007). Even with the historical and cultural implications, the

Mormon church itself has condemned the practice of polygamy. The social impact of this

problem is that marriage is supposed to be between two people, and polygamy defies that

societal policy. Lastly polygamy can be seen affected by politics, which have banned polygamy

for the most part, but still polygamy survives in small pockets in the US and in Canada. Laws

currently against polygamy need to be changed to support the human rights of everyone, since

polygamy has been seen leading to extreme abuse and objectification on a multitude of

occasions.
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 11

References

Campbell, A. (2017, July 26). Polygamy ban fails to protect women and children. ​The

Globe and Mail Inc. ​Retrieved from

http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=News&resultList

Type=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=TopicSearchForm&

currentPosition=19&docId=GALE%7CA499278842&docType=Article&sort=Relevance

&contentSegment=&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CA499278842&topicId=JOF

AJF701157798&searchId=&userGroupName=mcc_glendale&inPS=true

Hebbert, R. (2013). Polygamy Harms Marriage and Society. ​Polygamy​. Retrieved from

http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=FeaturedContent

&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=TopicSe

archForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CEJ3010547224&docType=Viewpoint+

essay&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ30

10547224&topicId=JOFAJF701157798&searchId=&userGroupName=mcc_glendale&in

PS=true

Lee Lerner K., et al. (2006). Family Life Among the Mormons. ​Family in Society: Essential

Primary Sources​. Retrieved from

http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Primary&resultL

istType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=TopicSearchFor

m&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CCX2688300074&docType=Article&sort=Rele
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 12

vance&contentSegment=&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CCX2688300074&topic

Id=JOFAJF701157798&searchId=&userGroupName=mcc_glendale&inPS=true

Cockburn, L. (2006). Polygamy Violates Women’s Rights. ​Polygamy​ (p.55-57). Farmington

Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

O’Brien, Natalie. (2007). Polygamy Poses Challenges to Men and Women Alike. ​Polygamy​.

Retrieved from

http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=FeaturedContent

&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=TopicSe

archForm&currentPosition=6&docId=GALE%7CEJ3010547222&docType=Viewpoint+

essay&sort=RN_DISP&contentSegment=&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ30

10547222&topicId=JOFAJF701157798&searchId=&userGroupName=mcc_glendale&in

PS=true

R&E Newsweekly. (2007, Nov. 2). Children of Polygamists; Children of Polygamists. ​Global

Issues In Context​. Retrieved from

http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Videos&resultLi

stType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=TopicSearchForm

&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CA193313000&docType=Brief+article%2C+Vide

o+file&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CA19

3313000&topicId=JOFAJF701157798&searchId=&userGroupName=mcc_glendale&inP

S=true
POLYGAMY: THE PROBLEM 13

Vere, Pete. (2013). Polygamy Is Harmful to Children’s Development. ​Polygamy​. Retrieved from

http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=FeaturedContent

&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=TopicSe

archForm&currentPosition=3&docId=GALE%7CEJ3010547225&docType=Viewpoint+

essay&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ30

10547225&topicId=JOFAJF701157798&searchId=&userGroupName=mcc_glendale&in

PS=true