ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the religious justifications for polygyny as a partial explanation for the continuing practice and asks why the government and various human rights bodies do not take a more critical stance towards a practice deemed incompatible with gender equality. The prospect of a Mormon entering the White House becomes a possibility, there is increasing attention on the practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS), the fourth largest religious denomination in the USA with an estimated 14 million members worldwide. Debates about the integration of Muslims in the West and the implications for social cohesion have increasingly focused on the status of women and the structure of the Muslim family; thus early marriage, forced marriage, honour-based violence and occasionally polygyny have become synonymous with Islam and Muslims. Islam places a strong emphasis on sexual relationships as both a 'natural' human need and a foretaste of the delights of Paradise, whilst simultaneously requiring regulation.
