Canadian Ministry of Justice for Polygamy *
THE AUTHORS
Dr. Martha Bailey, Principal Researcher
Martha Bailey, LL.B. (University of Toronto), LL.M., (Queen's University), D.Phil. (Oxford University), teaches in the Faculty of Law of Queen's University. Her expertise is in the area of domestic and transnational family law. Dr. Bailey is a reporter for the Hague Conference on Private International Law's International Child Abduction Database and served as a member of the Advisory Group on Close Personal Relationships for the Law Commission of Canada. Her recent publications include “Same-sex Relationships Across Borders,�?(2004) McGill Law Journal 49, 1005.
Professor Beverley Baines, Co-principal researcher
Beverley Baines, B.A. (McGill University), LL.B. (Queen's University), has been a member of the Faculty of Law of Queen's University since 1974, has taught in Queen's School of Policy Studies since 1992, and is now serving as the Head of Women's Studies at Queen's University. Professor Baines is a constitutional law expert, and her recent publications include The Gender of Constitutional Jurisprudence, with Ruth Rubio-Marin, eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
Professor Bita Amani, Co-principal researcher
Bita Amani, B.A. (York University), LL.B. (Osgoode Hall Law School), S.J.D. candidate (University of Toronto), joined the Faculty of Law of Queen's University in 2002. She teaches and publishes in the field of intellectual property law. Her recent publications include “The Human Genome Diversity Project: The Politics of Patents at the Intersection of Race, Religion, and Research Ethics�?(2005) Law and Policy 27, 152 (with Rosemary Coombe). Professor Amani, an Iranian-Canadian, has extensive experience conducting government policy research.
Ms. Amy Kaufman, Researcher, Research Assistant, Editor
Amy Kaufman, B.A., LL.B. (Queen's University), is a recipient of the Law Society of Upper Canada's 2004 Award for Academic Excellence. She serves as Clerk to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. Ms. Kaufman's article “Polygamous Marriages in Canada�?is forthcoming in (2005), Canadian Journal of Family Law.
"The report recommends that Canada prepare for a constitutional challenge to the limitation of marriage to two persons. The report recommends that Canada prepare for a constitutional challenge to the limitation of marriage to two persons."
* Please note that the individuals representing justice in the above link are entirely comprised of women.
Polygamy in Canada: Legal and
Publications
Polygamy in Canada: Legal and Social Implications for Women and Children �?A Collection of Policy Research Reports
Expanding Recognition of Foreign Polygamous Marriages: Policy Implications for Canada
Dr. Martha Bailey
Faculty of Law, Queen's University
Prof. Beverley Baines
Department of Women's Studies, Queen's University
Prof. Bita Amani
Faculty of Law, Queen's University
Ms. Amy Kaufman
With respect to these "victims of oppression" that we occasionally hear about in the media, I have witnessed dozens of examples of these "escapees" from so-called religious polygynous cults and I've noticed something rather profound about them. These women from such marriages don't have broken jaws, their teeth look in good shape, they seem fairly healthy looking, and many appear to be "well preserved" for their ages if not well cared for. Some also appear to be very well educated. You know, to be honest, it really causes me to wonder... could it be possible that there is strength and safety in numbers afterall and the television reporters are just not telling us the rest of the story?
Aside from these dozens of "victims of polygamy" (and I've listened to the stories)... there are thousands of women who seem quite content to stay where they are until something "better" should come their way. Yet we hear no reports of them being shot by their "pimp daddies", no reports of them being beaten to a pulp and whipped into submission by controlling and domineering egocentric husbands, no reports of starvation or malnutrition, or torture, or broken bones. Sorry - verbal abuse won't cut it. In the real world I have come to know, women are easily as verbal as men and can be ten times as abusive in this respect. hmmm...
Am I missing something here?
If we did a study on the actual percentage (per capita) of those women escaping from all those "abusive husbands" in so-called "civil" (mostly "serial") contract of monogamous marriages, encompassing all of the "divorce", "crime", "neglect", "violence", "addiction", including all those actual adultery (woman that breaketh wedlock) rates, etc. and compare both groups, I do think that the results would be very startling to those who would pride themselves in the secular government endorsed monogamy contract of civil marriage vs. GOD HATH CALLED US TO PEACE marriages. I submit that the findings would be to the shame of most of the so-called "monogamists".
No worries: It looks like the wiser women are finally catching onto the benefits of a man having more than one wife. Yes, there is strength and safety in numbers. I do believe some of them are finally beginning to see the light.