Ivorian bill that would legalise polygamy for men earns the ire of women's groups
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Loading... - Wariba Nkoa
- 01 Sep 2022
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A proposed bill at the Ivorian parliament that would legalise polygamy – but only for men – has prompted strong reactions from women's rights advocates, which have dubbed it a step back in the fight for equality. Polygamy is prohibited in many parts of the world but remains widespread in West African countries.
“We can’t legalise polygamy to satisfy a man’s libido,” legal expert Désirée Okobé says bluntly. Okobé is based in Abidjan and is one of the women who have spoken out against MP Yacouba Sangaré’s bill to legalise polygamy in the West African country.
“A man chooses to have more than one wife for personal, egotistical reasons. Opening this door would end up creating an imbalance in our society,” Okobé says in a telephone interview.
According to her and several women’s rights activists in the country, legalising polygamy would be a setback for Ivorian women who still face systemic inequalities and discrimination.
The UN Commission on Human Rights considers the practice discriminatory against women and has called for its eradication.
Polygamy is common in Subsaharan Africa
Although polygamy has declined globally in the last decade it remains common in West Africa.
It is most widely practiced in sub-Saharan Africa – by 11% of the population on average, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. The rate of polygamous unions in Ivory Coast is slightly higher at 12%.
Sangaré has based his project on these stats, arguing for polygamy to become a legal option since the 1964 law that only recognises monogamy has proven ineffective, he says.
“Across regions and regardless of religious background, polygamy is common in Ivory Coast. Men have multiple wives and communities accept that. So exclusive monogamy doesn’t fit with our realities, our customs. We can’t just copy-paste legislation that was put in place in Western countries. We have to give people the option,” he argues.
Research has shown that prior to the arrival of colonists and Christianity in parts of Africa, polygyny – which allowed men to take more than one spouse – existed under family law. It helped avoid divorces due to infertility and was a response to an imbalance in the ratio of women and men. Read More...
