Polygamy and islam polygamy and islam 5 one point greatly in need of clarification is the fact that in the matter of marrying more than one woman, the initiative does not lie solely with any individual man. Unfortunately, weeks after this report was released, the. Polygamy has been cited as a possible contributor to africa s low savings rates tertilt, 2005, widespread incidence of hiv brahmbhatt et al. However, polygamy is a controversial issue among the scholars. President uhuru kenyatta signs kenya polygamy law bbc news. The trend over the past century has been toward limiting polygamy. The second chapter surveys the principal aspects of the churchs teachings on marriage and polygamy, teachings that are rooted in. Meet the six famous polygamist leaders africa has ever had. Polygamy is the practice of having more than one wife or husband at one time.
More so, the small house has been found to be a problematic context for child socialisation and development as a result of absent fatherhood and lone parenthood small house households. Polygamy is legal in uganda, where a man is allowed to marry multiple wives at a time. Polygamy is a centuriesold practice in africa that has yet to disappear from modern life. Polygamy and poverty are both widespread in africa. Expanding recognition of foreign polygamous marriages. Dr rana raddawi, associate professor in the department of english at the american university of sharjah, is to publish a research paper that shows many women in polygamous marriages feel neglected. Some societies have introduced a gradual reduction in the number of wives permitted, while others. A strong argument of weather the subject is right or wrong. This paper draws attention to the crucial distinction that exists between affluent polygamy and interventive polygamy as practiced in subsaharan africa. An african perspective there are many strong cultural arguments in support of polygamy among african societies from the social, economical, cultural and traditional points of view. Polygamy in africa has been a popular topic for social. May 01, 2014 a new law that went into effect in kenya this week makes it legal for a man to marry as many women as he wants.
There are about 60 monogamous countries close to the equator, mainly in the caribbean, the. Having noted that the incidence of polygamy is much less than many westerners would seem to think it varies from tribe to tribe, but in practice some 20% to 30% of african marriages have been polygamous, with a norm of two wives per marriage, it is important to underline that the main factor behind polygamy is not sexual incontinence, but the. South africa prohibits bigamy in civil marriages, but allows for multiple customary marriages under the recognition of customary marriages act art. When a man is married to more than one wife at a time, sociologists call this polygyny. D department of religious studies olabisi onabanjo university, agoiwoye ogun state, nigeria abstract. Request pdf what is the future of polygyny polygamy in africa.
Adrian katherine wing, polygamy from southern africa. While some groups hail the decline in the practice of polygamy, there is a conflict between the desire to protect african cultural traditions and increasing pressure to recognise womens rights simmons 1999. Wherever polygamy is a culturally accepted form of marriage, it is preferred over and against monogamy. You, poor women, will become nothing more than a dish at the buffet. Latitude and longitude of african locations, geographic coordinates. Therefore, the polygamous marriage focused in this paper is polygyny and informal polygyny. Inequality is related to polygamy, but acts over the very long term. Polygamy is legal under certain circumstances in south africa. View effects of polygamy on women and children research papers on academia. In this regard, the girl child is affected more by the small house family context due to the rigid. A blue dot indicates polygamy, and a grey dot indicates monogamy. Indeed, supporting polygamy is a sensible thing to do because men already like having many partners, it enhances personal freedom, helps to prevent or minimize adultery, is an integral part of some.
Oct 18, 2010 south africa alicia hudson soc 315 professor norsworthy may 6, 20 south africa south africa, a country on the southern tip of africa, has an area of 471,442sq mi and a population of 44,188,000. Martha bailey, principal researcher, professor beverley baines, coprincipal researcher and professor bita amani, coprincipal researcher of queens university at kingston. Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels. Polygamy and poverty are both widespread in subsaharan africa. There is always the conditionan inescapable onethat whatever the society, the women should outnumber the men. While the insular groups living in and around utah are recognized by mainstream society, muslim. We use your linkedin profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads.
While sociologists view polygamy as a reproductive strategy by which men maximise the number of their offspring, but minimise investment in each. Muthengi polygamy and the church in africa 59 second, polygamy is mot1vated by desire to secure all1ance w1th good families in this case, marriage from the african context is viewed as involving families and communities rather than individuals hillman 1975. To conclude, there are many good reasons why polygamy is a fantastic practice, but because of time and space, only ten reasons have been proffered. Christianity is the only major religion in africa today, besides islam and traditional african religions, that has rejected polygamy. Motivated by a simple model, i use dhs data to test nine hypotheses about the prevalence and decline of african polygamy. Furthermore it prevents the husband from giving his whole heart to the woman of his choice, which we cannot but look upon as the natural ideal i.
The average total fertility rate in subsaharan africa was 5. In 1961, when remi clignet published his book many wives, many powers, he was not alone in sharing. The cultural and causative factors in the conditioning of peoples consciousness to interventive polygamy as gleaned from ethnographic data drawn from. Quick facts two sadc heads of state practice polygamy. It is legal in 26 out of 54 african countries, particularly. Mar 04, 2010 even though polygamy is a part of its traditions, there is a new reality that raises questions about whether this lifestyle has a place in modern south africa. Effects of polygamy on women and children research papers. Polygamy was common and widespread in the ancient world and widely practiced among some religious groups.
The husband in an existing customary marriage wishing to marry a second wife must apply to a competent court for such a marriage to be legal. It was only after the colonial era in africa appeared when polygamy started being looked at as a taboo. I show, however, that the result depends on a broad comparison of west africa to the rest of the continent. The lord used him mightily and many persons from the local area accepted the christian faith. From president zuma to village heads in zimbabwe to my own granddad who married four women, polygamy is part of the fabric of african life. In most of these states, polygyny is allowed and legally sanctioned. It is predominately a black ethnicity with 76% of the population. Monogamy reduces major social problems of polygamist cultures. Pdf polygamy 1 and the missionary church william r. This practice is very common among the animist and the muslim communities.
Of these, data are available on the latitude and longitude of the. Polyandry is illegal in virtually every state in the world. Africa latitude and longitude and relative locations. I am grateful to both the anglican church of tanzania, diocese of mara and the church missionary society, england, for. Polygamy is still prominent in african countries and especially the subsaharan africa, despite the challenges that this type of institution poses. Polygamy is widely discussed in southern africa media, partly because two of the regions heads of state champion the custom. Monogamy reduces major social problems of polygamist cultures jan 23, 2012 for more information, contact in cultures that permit men to take multiple wives, the intrasexual competition that occurs causes greater levels of crime, violence, poverty and gender inequality than in societies that institutionalize and practice monogamous marriage. Polygamy was widely practiced in africa and it often formed the backbone of the traditional african family patterns. Polygamy, which is defined as the practice of having more than one spouse, is a common, and widespread, socially as well as culturally accepted phenomenon in many african countries 1,2.
South africas president jacob zuma, who has four wives, and swazilands king mswati iii, who has 14 wives. Whereas polygyny is the practice of one man having more than one wife at one time. The scatterplots in figure 1 suggest that polygyny and hiv prevalence are negatively correlated. Muthengi polygamy has been a persistent problem in africa for the christian missions which brought the gospel to the contment. All polygamous marriages entered into in accordance with the provisions of the recognition of customary marriages act are legal. A historical background stephanie coontz professor of history and family studies the evergreen state college director of research and public education council on contemporary families the new hbo television show, big love, has led many people to contact the council on contemporary families for background on polygamy.
South africa is almost the aids capital of the world, mr madlala says. If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives, it can be called a group marriage. The traditional practice of polygyny, whereby only a man is allowed to marry more than one wife in a customary marriage, has long been perceived to be an offender of womens rights. This is a reflection on the treatment of polygamy in africa. Jun 27, 2011 the issue of polygamy has dominated the press for the past week in south africa not least of all because of president zumas polygamous practices, as profiled on the world stage, and his impregnation of irvan khozas daughter as revealed in the press over the weekend. It is said that polygamy can be considered as it allows widows and orphans to be taken care of in a society in which women usually do not have independent means of financial support.
Latitude and longitude coordinates of the respondents. Polygamy is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being muslimmajority countries in africa and asia. The reasons for its existence and persistence are varied and have been a source of fierce debate. I aggregate the women for whom coordinates are available to cells that are 0.
It highlights the therapeutic value of interventive polygamy in two regions of africa. A woman is coded as polygamous if she reports that her husband has more than one wife. Polygamy in africa has been a popular topic for social research over the past halfcentury. For example in senegal there are almost 47% of the marriages where they feature more than one woman. We restrict our attention to those respondents reporting latitude and longitude coordinates of the survey cluster where the survey was conducted. Polygamy polygyny expert esther stanford gives a sharp and profound scholastic food for thought on polygamy and african people. More than 5 million people in south africa are hiv positive the most of any country in the world. Polygyny is the form of marriage practiced in africa not polygamy. The small house phenomenon and polygyny in zimbabwe. A raw correlation between year of birth and polygamy will confound time trends with age effects, since a young. Having presumably the ability to communicate with the deceased ancestors who are believed to possess the powers to reward good behavior and to.
African polygamy oxford department of economics university of. This study would not have been a reality without strong support from individuals and different organizations. The relationship holds for femalecentered definitions of polygyny the percentage of women with one or more co. Moreover, we need to correct a common mistake in referring to polygyny as polygamy. It stems from an experience i had in 1960 while on a four month tour looking at various landsettlement projects. Polygamy can negatively affect women, study finds the. The mormon church also allowed polygamy until the late 19 th century, when it renounced the practice and now excommunicates any members who practice it. Box 20, mutare abstract the study investigates the link between polygamy and academic performance in johanne marange apostolic sect in marange, mutare district. Polygyny and the spread of hiv in sub saharan africa. As long as our societies are marked by both poverty and patriarchy, it. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. Church action, community reaction, and personal interaction a.
Due to this, most families tend to contain an abundance of children. Polygamy and christianity in africa t a falaye, ph. Polygamy is less prevalent where there are higher levels of education and urbanization. Polygamy is concentrated in west africa, though a highintensity belt stretches through to tanzania. He has three wives and 19 children, according to his web site. Whereas it is believed erroneously among many people that polygamy implies the art of a man being married to more than one wife, the true definition of polygamy implies the. The polygamy has existed in all over the african continent thanks to the fact that it represents an aspect of their culture and religion. Yalda hakim reports for bbc our world on how it is being received. According to the world book encyclopedia, christians represent. Polygamy devalues women and the only person who revels in it is the husband who gets to enjoy variety. Polygamy is the next battleground for marriage in the united states in fact, just last month a federal judge declared laws on the books in utah that guard against polygamy to be unconstitutional the state may still outlaw plural marriages, but it cannot.
In africa, polygamy is viewed as a sociological issue rather than a religious one doi, 1996, and in some countries polygamy has also become a legal issue. These types of marriages have been more present in the whole history of africa like no other continent in the world. Polygamy became taboo with colonialism due to the conflict with inheritance in large families, the socialeconomic threat caused by increased african populations and the eurocentric christian values. The report details the findings for research undertaken in sierra leone in the districts of port loko and kambia from july to october 2016. Last month a controversial bill legalising polygamy became law in kenya. Africa, in particular western africa, has established itself as a region where polygamy. The legality of polygamy varies widely around the world. The polygamy issue as confronted by meserete kristos church evangelist bekele tamirat went to the northwestern part of ethiopia to preach the gospel. Kenyas president uhuru kenyatta has signed into law a controversial marriage bill legalising polygamy. Scholars have suggested, for example, that polygamy crowds out productive investment tertilt 2005, reduces investment in girls education edlund and lagerlof 2006 or diminishes the labour supply of unmarried men edlund and lagerlof 2012. The polygamous family, consisting of a man, his wives more than one wife, and their children, is the ideal for most africans 2. Impact of a polygamous marriage on children and family. Darker colors indicate higher rates of polygamy or greater mean years of schooling. Oct 15, 2014 a documentary that talks about polygamy in africa.
Polygamy already is a common fixture among many cultures in kenya and in some other african countries. Faucon polygamist families in america live as outlaws on the margins of society. Feb 19, 2010 south africa s president, jacob zuma, is a member of the zulu culture. These types of marriages here are some more compilation of topics and latest discussions relates to this video, which we found thorough the internet. Overall the polygamy in africa is a very common practice that you are going to find all over africa, but it tends to be more popular especially in the west african countries. Mozambique ratified cedaw in 1997, crc in 1994, iccpr in 1994, african charter on human and peoples rights 1981 achpr in 1989 and the. How kenyans are reacting to legalised polygamy bbc news.
A few weeks into the trip, and after a rather stressful time in kumasi in. The traditional practice of polygyny, whereby only a man is allowed to. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the respondents survey cluster are. Much has been written on this subject as evidenced by the extensive bibliography of this article. It has raised much debate ranging from the dignity. Polygamy is concentrated in west africa and has declined in recent decades. Hope this information will helpful to get idea in brief about. Polygamy of either sort is far less common than it used to be, and is now concentrated in africa, the middle east, india, thailand, and indonesia. Polygamy in subsaharan africa exists under the cult of ancestry and gerontocracy caldwell and caldwell 1987.
Okorje introduction polygamy as been at the heart of the whole polemics within the church and the african community. Geographic variation in womens agricultural productivity does not predict differences in the prevalence of polygamy, but historical inequality and exposure to the slave trade do. Polygamy the practice of and reasons for polygamy sponsored link. The rest of the sovereign states do not recognize polygamous marriages.
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