Polygamy is “commonplace”
within Muslim communities in Britain, with husbands fathering as many as 20
children by four wives, a Peer has said. She has called for a change in the law
so that Muslim women know their rights under British law not to be discriminated
against.
Although it has long been recognised that polygamy occurs in Muslim
communities, it is typically seen as very rare.
But in a statement delivered to a conference on Islam in the UK some time ago, Baroness Cox, a cross-bench member of the house of Lords, told the
audience that polygamy in some communities is “commonplace” and that, as the
marriages are Islamic ceremonies which have no legal status in British law,
women who find themselves in polygamous marriages are being left without any
rights.
Furthermore, the situation is being enabled by the acceptance of sharia
councils in the UK, which Baroness Cox called a “parallel legal
system”.
She explained: “Under sharia law, a husband is entitled to up to four
wives providing he takes responsibility for making appropriate provision for
all. In many Muslim communities in this country, polygamy is commonplace
although as a nation bigamy is legally forbidden.”
She added: “Many [women] in polygamous marriages have said their husbands
failed to provide financial support. Some were not even aware they were being
married into polygamous relationships. Many are desperately unhappy.”
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