British Peer: Polygamy ‘Commonplace’ Within Muslim Communities in Britain

I have a lot of respect for Baroness Cox. From Breitbart

Polygamy is “commonplace” within Muslim communities in Britain, with husbands fathering as many as 20 children by four wives, a Peer has said.

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 on Sunday, 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…”

Cox has spoken to a number of British women in polygamous relationships herself in a bid to gain a clearer picture of the challenges they face. She describes a situation in which men are taking multiple wives, having numerous children, and are not providing for them.

She said: “Several Muslim women have told me that men in their communities may each have up to 20 children. This clearly paves the way for children growing up in dysfunctional families, who may become very vulnerable to marginalisation and potential radicalisation.”

Four of the women said their husband has three wives in total, and three women said their husband has four wives in total.

The report continues: “Islamic law requires that a man who chooses to have more than one wife must be able to support all of his wives. However, of the women who said their husband has more than one wife, nearly all (27 of 31) said their husband does not support them financially. Of these women, three quarters (21 of 27) rely on state benefits.”

The report includes anonymous testimonies, including from a 32-year-old woman who told the researcher: “…I found out afterwards that he had three more wives and he is still married to them. He lives with me but refuses to pay for anything. I live in his house that he bought but I claim benefits on it to pay his mortgage.”

I would like to see it dealt with from the direction, less of the women’s rights and more of their responsibilities,and their menfolk’s responsibilities. We can start by not calling them husbands and wives unless they are lawfully wed under British law. But of course in a liberal society lawful monogamous marriage (other than among same sex couples) is an outdated concept. A polygamous quadrupling is a valid lifestyle choice as is some trendsetting pan-sexual caper. Its all to the same end; the breakdown of the traditional family.