Reply #10: The thing about these polygamous marriages ... well, there are

[atommom]

several things that are troubling. In the Mormon faith, the man is viewed as the absolute head of household. The women are expected to be completely subservient, and they believe they won't even get to go to heaven unless the man gives his OK. Forced marriages and abuse are still common.

Here's an excerpt from a "call to action" several years ago. Little progress seems to have been made...

We are deeply concerned by reports indicating a pattern of polygamy-related abuses in Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, and neighboring states. Women and girls in polygamous families are subjected to violence, child marriage, trafficking, the coerced marriage of adult women, and sexual abuse, including incest. Many live in closed religious communities in which they are denied education and access to information from the outside world. Although international human rights law and U.S. law prohibit these abuses, state and federal officials have failed to ensure that these standards are observed in practice. At a time when the U.S. has championed the cause of women's human rights in Afghanistan, we are particularly disturbed that those who violate women's human rights in the U.S. enjoy impunity.

Many of these polygamous families belong to a religious group known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, which broke away from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (the "Mormon Church") over the mainstream Church's official ban on polygamy. Although polygamy is prohibited by the Utah State Constitution and its bigamy statutes, the prosecution of Tom Green in 2001 for polygamy was the first since 1953. Mr. Green had embarrassed state officials through his aggressive promotion of polygamy in the media at a time when preparations for the Winter Olympics had focused public attention on Utah.

Women and girls who have fled polygamous families report that religious teachings emphasize their duty to submit to the authority of their fathers, husbands, and male religious leaders, and make spiritual salvation contingent on polygamy. The religious teachings of these polygamous groups and the closed nature of their communities create conditions in which women and girls are especially vulnerable to violence, coercion, and abuse.

Reported cases indicate a pattern of child marriage, sexual abuse and trafficking, in which girls from the ages of 13 to 16 have been married to older men and girls are being trafficked to Canada for marriage to polygamous men in British Columbia. Adult women have also described battering, intimidation and sexual abuse within polygamous families. Young women inside these communities are vulnerable to coercion by family members and religious leaders to enter polygamous marriages. Trained to obey religious teachings and denied any other education, they may see no real alternative.

http://www.wluml.org/english/actionsfulltxt.shtml?cmd%5B156%5D=i-156-3124

Aside from all that, a number of polygamous households need government assistance to stay afloat. It takes quite an income to maintain a household of that size.