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] However, this practice is decreasing due to economic and social conditions. Here are five countries where polygamy is legal. 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 declared 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. Under the 1961 law, the Muslim majority is allowed to practice polygamy in Pakistan. Men of the Islamic faith can take a maximum of four wives.
However, before entering into a second marriage, he must obtain the legal consent of his first wife. The data on the prevalence of polygamous households was part of a Pew Research Center report on household composition by religion around the world. Not all people who practice polygamy live in polygamous households. Sometimes two or more wives of the same man each have their own home. Details of the categories of household types can be found in the methodology. Details of polygamy laws around the world can be found from the OECD Development Centre and the UN Human Rights Office. Religion often plays a role in how polygamy is governed and practiced in a single country. In Nigeria, for example, polygamous marriage is not allowed at the federal level, but the ban only applies to civil marriages. Twelve Muslim-majority northern states recognize these unions as Islamic or customary marriages. In India, Muslim men are allowed to marry multiple women, men of other groups are not. However, in countries where polygamy is common, it is often practiced by people of all faiths.
This is the case in Gambia, Niger, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso, where at least one in ten people from each religious group measured live in households where husbands live with more than one spouse. Polyandry also existed among the tribes of South America when the Bororo practiced polyandry, while up to 70% of Amazonian cultures may have believed in the principle of multiple paternity. «The Tupi-Kawahib also practice fraternal polyandry. In some African countries, polygamy is illegal under civil law, but still permitted under common law, where actions 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. Group marriage is an umbrella term for marriages involving multiple husbands as well as multiple wives. Polyamory is the practice of having multiple romantic relationships, with all parties having complete knowledge and giving full consent. Not related to marriage. Polygeny is the (outdated) theory that the different races of humanity evolved from different ancestral groups.
This term has nothing to do with polygamy, but is sometimes confused with «polygyny», so it is included here for clarity. Polyandry is the de facto norm in rural Tibet, although it is illegal under Chinese family law. Polygamy continues in Bhutan[35] in various forms, as it has done since ancient times. It is also found in parts of Nepal,[142] despite its formal illegality in the country. [143] In 1998, approximately 40,000 people living in Utah were part of polygamous families, or about 1.4% of the population. [37] Polygamists have been difficult to prosecute, as many apply for marriage licenses only for their first marriage, while other marriages are celebrated secretly in private ceremonies. After that, secondary brides try to be seen in public as single women with children. [37] In other parts of the world, including parts of the Middle East and Asia, polygamy is legal but not widespread.
And in some countries – particularly in a segment of West and Central Africa known as polygamy belts – the practice is often legal and widespread. In countries that prohibit polygamy, the crime is commonly referred to as bigamy, although the penalty varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some countries where polygamy is illegal, the ban is not enforced. Given that many of us have argued with great success that respect for tradition is not a legitimate reason to restrict marriage rights to groups that wish to do so, the next step seems clear. Europe, Australia and America are among the territories where polygamy is completely prohibited. Polygamy is most common in sub-Saharan Africa, where 11% of the population lives in agreements involving more than one spouse. Polygamy is prevalent in a group of West and Central African countries, including Burkina Faso (36%), Mali (34%) and Nigeria (28%). In these countries, polygamy is legal, at least to some extent. Muslims in Africa are more likely than Christians to live in this type of arrangement (25% vs. 3%), but in some countries the practice is also prevalent among adherents of popular religions and people who do not identify with a religion. For example, in Burkina Faso, 45 per cent of people with popular religions, 40 per cent of Muslims and 24 per cent of Christians live in polygamous households. Chad is the only country in this analysis where Christians (21%) are more likely than Muslims (10%) to live in this type of arrangement.
The tables below indicate the most recent acts that have been discussed, proposed or voted; All this concerns a form of polygamous union. 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. Polygamy is a practice in which a person is married to more than one person at a time, most often to a man with several wives. Polygamy is often based on traditional cultural practices or religious beliefs. Usually, it is practiced legally in some Muslim countries and is limited to men of the Islamic faith. Debates on the legalization of polygamous marriages continue in Central Asian countries. [ref. needed] 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. The stars of TLC`s Sister Wives questioned Utah`s bigamy laws,[48] but also acknowledged that the constitutional ban on polygamy licenses would remain in place regardless of the outcome of the trial. [48] On 13. In December 2013, U.S. federal judge Clark Waddoups ruled in Brown v. Buhman[49] that the parts of Utah`s anti-polygamy laws prohibiting the cohabitation of multiple marriages were unconstitutional, but also allowed Utah to maintain its ban on multiple marriage licenses. [50] [51] [52] Illegal cohabitation, in which prosecutors did not have to prove that a marriage had taken place (only that a couple had lived together), had been an important tool in the prosecution of polygamy in Utah since the Edmunds Act of 1882. [53] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit overturned the decision on April 11. 2016 [54] On January 23, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the arguments of the husband and four wives featured on the TV show Sister Wives, upholding a lower court decision that had made polygamy a crime in Utah. [55] With the exception of Solomon Islands, polygamous marriages are not recognized in Europe and Oceania.
In India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, governments recognize polygamous marriages, but only for Muslims. In Australia, polygamous marriage is prohibited, but polygamous relationships are common in some Australian indigenous communities. In Indonesia, polygamy is legal in some areas, such as Bali, Papua and West Papua. Balinese Hinduism allows polygamy, practiced for centuries by the Balinese and Papua. Protests against the ban on polygamy and polygamous marriages took place in Indonesia in 2008, but did not lead to changes to the law. Many U.S. courts (e.g., Turner v.S., 212 Miss. 590, 55 So.2d 228) treat bigamy as a felony with strict liability: In some jurisdictions, a person can be convicted of a crime even if they reasonably believed they had only one legal spouse. For example, if a person mistakenly believes that their ex-spouse is dead or that their divorce is final, they can still be convicted of bigamy if they marry a new person. [18] In 2008, beginning April 4, Texas state authorities temporarily detained 436 women and children after Rozita Swinton, a 33-year-old woman who lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, called both Texas social services and a local animal shelter and pretended to be a 16-year-old girl.