Polygyny and Canada's Obligations under International Human Rights Law

[1]      Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s.290.

[2]      Ibid, as defined in s. 214, “form of marriage” includes a ceremony of marriage that is recognized as valid (a) by the law of the place where it was celebrated, or (b) by the law of the place where an accused is tried, notwithstanding that it is not recognized as valid by the law of the place where it was celebrated.

[3]      Law Reform Commission of Canada, Bigamy, Working Paper No. 42 (Ottawa: Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1985) at 13.

[4]      Amy Kaufman, “Polygamous Marriages in Canada” (2005) 21 Can. J. Fam. L. 315 at 316 citing Philip L. Kilbride, Plural Marriage for Our Times: A Reinvented Option (Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey, 1994) at 42 “that polyandry exists in less than one percent of the world's cultures and always in combination with polygyny.”

[5]      See Pichon and Sajous v. France (2001), Eur. Ct. H.R. (Third Section) Appl. 49853/99 (limiting the right of conscientious objection for the protection of health);Singh Bhinder v. Canada, Communication Nos. 208/1986, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/37/D/208/1986 (1989) (law requiring all persons to wear safety gear [hard hats] for public health and safety interests is a justified limitation on freedom of religion).

[6]      Leyla Sahin v. Turkey (2005), Eur. Ct. H.R., Appl. 44774/98 (limitations on the public use of religious headscarves permitted for the purpose of protecting gender equality and maintaining secularism in official settings / institutions of higher learning).

[7]      Lorraine Weinrib “Charter precludes unequal regimes” Law Times (3 October 2005).

[8]      See Courtney Howland, “The Challenge of Religious Fundamentalism to the Liberty and Equality Rights of Women: An Analysis under the United Nations Charter” (1997) 35 Colum. J. Transnat'l L. 273 [Howland, “Challenge of Religious Fundamentalism”]; and Courtenay Howland, “Safeguarding Women's Political Freedoms under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the Face of Religious Fundamentalism” in Courtenay Howland, ed., Religious Fundamentalism and the Human Rights of Women (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999) [“Safeguarding”] for discussions of the impact of modesty and obedience codes on women's political rights and freedoms.

[9]      Susan Deller Ross, “Polygyny as a Violation of Women's Right to Equality in Marriage: An Historical, Comparative and International Human Rights Overview” (2002) 24 Delhi Law Review 22 at 24; Women Living Under Muslim Laws, Knowing Our Rights: Women, family, laws and customs in the Muslim World (London: Women Living Under Muslim Laws, 2003) [WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”].

[10]     Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res. 217(III), UNGAOR, 3d Sess., Supp. No. 13, UN Doc. A/810 (1948) 71. [Universal Declaration].

[11]     International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 19 December 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, arts. 9-14, Can. T.S. 1976 No. 47, 6 I.L.M. 368 (entered into force 23 March 1976, accession by Canada 19 May 1976) [Political Covenant].

[12]     International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, GA Res. 2200 (XXI), 21 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, UN Doc.A/6316 (entered into force 3 January 1976, accession by Canada 19 May 1976) [Economic Covenant].

[13]     European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 213 U.N.T.S. 221 at 223, Eur. T.S. 5, entered into force Sept. 3, 1953, as amended by Protocols Nos 3, 5, and 8 which entered into force on 21 September 1970, 20 December 1971 and 1 January 1990 respectively [European Convention].

[14]     OAS, American Convention on Human Rights, O.A.S. Treaty Series No. 36, 114 U.N.T.S. 123 (1969)Organization of American States Treaty Series, 1 (1969) reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OEA/Ser.L.V/II.82 doc.6 rev.1 at 25 (1992) [American Convention].

[15]     Council of the League of Arab States, Arab Charter on Human Rights, September 15, 1994, reprinted in 18 Hum. Rts. L.J. 151 (1997) [Arab Charter].

[16]     UN, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (New York: UN, 1979), 34 UN GAOR Suppl. (No. 21) (A/34/46) at 193, UN Doc. A/Res/34/180 [Women's Convention].

[17]     General Recommendation 25, Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention (temporary special measures), UN CEDAWOR, 30th Sess., UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 7 (2004) at 282, at para. 4.

[18]     African [Banjul]Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, O.A.U. Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force Oct. 21, 1986 [African Charter].

[19]     Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, Adopted by the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, Maputo, July 11 ‑ August 13, 2003. [Protocol to African Charter on Rights of Women].

[20]     Art. 2 reads: “Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as… sex….”

[21]     African Charter, supra note 18, Art. 18.

[22]     CEDAW has condemned polygyny in numerous concluding observations. See e.g., Burkina Faso, 31/01/2000, U.N . Doc . A/55/38, paras. 281–282; Cameroon, 26/06/2000, U.N . Doc. A/55/38, para. 54; Democratic Republic of the Congo, 01/02/2000, U.N. Doc. A/55/38, paras. 215–216; Egypt, 02/02/2001, U.N . Doc. A/56/38, paras. 352–353; Guinea, 31/07/2001, U.N . Doc. A/56/38, paras. 122–123; Indonesia, 14/05/98, U.N. Doc. A/53/38, para. 284( a) ; Iraq, 14/06/2000, U.N. Doc. A/55/38, para. 191; Israel, 12/08/97, U.N. Doc. A/52/38 Rev.1, Part II, para. 163; Jordan, 27/01/2000, U.N . Doc. A/55/38, para. 174–175; Namibia, 12/08/97, U.N. Doc. A/52/38/Rev.1, Part II, para. 110; Nepal, 01/07/99, U.N. Doc. A/54/38, para. 153; Nigeria, 07/07/98, U.N. Doc. A/53/38/Rev.1, para. 153; Senegal, 12/04/94, U.N. Doc. A/49/38, para. 721; United Republic of Tanzania, 06/07/98, U.N. Doc. A/53/38/Rev.1, para. 229; Uzbekistan, 02/02/2001, U.N. Doc . A/56/38, paras. 187–188 (as cited in Center for Reproductive Rights and University of Toronto International Programme on Reproductive and Sexual Health Law, Bringing Rights to Bear: An Analysis of the Work of UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies on Reproductive and Sexual Rights, (2002) at 38).

[23]     The HRC has recommended that States parties take steps to abolish and prevent the practice in several of its concluding observations. See e.g., Democratic Republic of the Congo, 27/03/2000, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/79/Add.118, para. 11; Gabon, 10/11/2000, U.N . Doc. CCPR/CO /70/G AB, para. 9; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 06/11/98, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/79/Add.101, para. 17; Nigeria, 24/07/96, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/79/Add.65, A /51/40, para. 291; Senegal, 19/11/97, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/79/Add 82, para. 12. (as cited in Center for Reproductive Rights and University of Toronto International Programme on Reproductive and Sexual Health Law, Bringing Rights to Bear: An Analysis of the Work of UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies on Reproductive and Sexual Rights, (2002) at 42).

[24]     The CESCR has condemned polygamy as being incompatible with the rights protected under the Economic Covenant. See e.g., Cameroon, 08/12/99, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/A dd.40, paras. 14, 33; Kyrgyzstan, 01/09/2000, U.N. Doc . E/C.12/1/Add.49, paras. 16, 30; Nepal, 24/09/2001, U.N. Doc . E/C.12/1/Add.66, paras. 10, 13; Nigeria, 13/05/98, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/Add.23, para. 22; Senegal, 24/09/2001, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.62, paras. 15, 39 (as cited in Center for Reproductive Rights and University of Toronto International Programme on Reproductive and Sexual Health Law, Bringing Rights to Bear: An Analysis of the Work of UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies on Reproductive and Sexual Rights, (2002) at 45).

[25]     The CRC has expressed concern about the impact of polygyny on children and recommended policy and legislative reforms to discourage the practice. See Djibouti, 28/06/2000, U.N. Doc . CRC/C/15/Add.131, para. 34 (as cited in Center for Reproductive Rights and University of Toronto International Programme on Reproductive and Sexual Health Law, Bringing Rights to Bear: An Analysis of the Work of UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies on Reproductive and Sexual Rights (2002) at 40).

[26]     General Comment No. 28: Equality of rights between men and women (article 3), UN HRCOR, 68th Sess., U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10 (2000) at para. 24. For a discussion of the legal trend toward marital equality and the regulation of marriage generally, see Arlette Gautier, “Legal Regulation of Marital Relations: An Historical and Comparative Approach” (2005) 19 International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 47.

[27]     General Recommendation 21, Equality in Marriage and Family Relations, UN CEDAWOR, 13th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1994) at para. 14. See also Article 5(a) of the Women's Convention: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:
(a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.”

[28]     See Irwin Altman & Joseph Ginat, Polygamous Families in Contemporary Society (Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1996); Peter Bretschneider, Polygyny: a Cross‑Cultural Study (Uppsala: Uppsala University, 1995); Laura Betzig, Le femme de mon mari: etude ethnologique du marie polygamique en Afrique et en France (New York: Aldine Pub., 1986).

[29]     Felicity Kaganas, & Christina Murray, “Law, Women and the Family: The Question of Polygyny in a New South Africa” (1991) Acta Jur 116 at 127.

[30]     Ibid. at 128.

[31]     Ibid.

[32]     Karen Knop, Diversity and Self-Determination in International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002) at 339.

[33]     Esther Sivan (under the direction of Prof. Hillel Shuval), “Study on the Lack of Equality of Women in Israel In Matters of Personal Status—Marriage and Divorce—With proposals on how to achieve freedom of religion and equal rights for women in Israel” (Joint Project of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hemdat—Council for Freedom of Science, Religion and Culture in Israel: Jerusalem, Israel, 2000) at 13.

[34]     Ibid.

[35]     A. Yusuf Ali, “The Holy Qu'ran: Text, Translation and Commentary” Sura 4, verse 3 (1983) as cited in Amira Mashhour, “Islamic Law and Gender Equality—Could There be a Common Ground?: A Study of Divorce and Polygamy in Sharia Law and Contemporary Legislation in Tunisia and Egypt” (2005) 27 Human Rights Quarterly 562.

[36]     Urfan Khaliq, “Beyond the Veil?: An Analysis of the Provisions of the Women's Convention in the Law as Stipulated in Shari'ah” (1995) 2 Buff. Jour. Int'l L. 1at 31.

[37]     Altman & Ginat, supra note 28at 42.

[38]     Ibid.

[39]     Ibid at 27.

[40]     Ibid.

[41]     Janet Rifkin, “Toward a Theory of Law and Patriarchy” (1980) 3 Harv. Women's L.J. 83 at 83.

[42]     Susan Okin, Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999) at 13.

[43]     Ibid at 15.

[44]     WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9at 197.

[45]     U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Cultural practices in the family that are violent towards women, UN ESCOR, 2002, 48th Sess., UN Doc. E/CN.4/2002/83 (2002) at para. 63.

[46]     Sandra Fredman, “Beyond the Dichotomy of Formal and Substantive Equality: Towards a New Definition of Equal Rights” in Ineke Boerefijn et al., eds., Temporary Special Measures: Accelerating de facto equality of women under article 4(1) UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (New York: Transnational Publishers, 2003) 111 at 115.

[47]     Ibid.

[48]     General Recommendation 25, Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention (temporary special measures), UN CEDAWOR, 30th Sess., UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 7, (2004) at 282, at para. 10.

[49]     (1960) A.I.R. 684 (Allahabad) [“Itwari”].

[50]     Ibid. at para. 15.

[51]     7 Misc.3d 459, 794 N.Y.S.2d 579 (Sup. Ct., NY County 2005) [“Hernandez”].

[52]     Ibid at 609 in 794 N.Y.S.2d 579.

[53]     Altman and Ginat, supra note 28 at 341.

[54]     Ibid.

[55]     Ibid.

[56]     Ibid. at 343.

[57]     Sangeetha Madhavan, “Best of Friends and Worst of Enemies: Competition and Collaboration in Polygyny” (2002) 41 Ethnology 69 at 69.

[58]     Ibid.

[59]     Altman and Ginat, supra note 28 at 341.

[60]     Ibid.

[61]     Ibid. at344.

[62]     Alean Al-Krenawi “Women from Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages in an Out-Patient Psychiatric Clinic” 38 Transcultural Psychiatry (2001) 187. [Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous”]

[63]     Ibid. at 188.

[64]     A.H. Leighton, T.A. Lembo, C.C. Hughes, D.C. Leighton, J.M. Murphy, & H.B. Macklin, Psychiatric disorder among the Yoruba. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1963) as cited in Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous”, supra note 62 at 188.

[65]     R. Ghubash, E. Hamdi, & P. Bebbington, “The Dubai community psychiatric survey, I. Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates” (1992) 27 Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 55; M.F. El-Islam, “Clinical bounds neurosis in Qatari women” (1975) 10 Social Psychiatry 25 as cited in Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous”, supra note 62 at 188.

[66]     The polygynous subjects in Al-Krenawi's study were all “senior wives” whose husbands had taken another spouse within the past two years.

[67]     Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous”, supra note 62 at 192.

[68]     Ibid. at 194.

[69]     Ibid. at 193.

[70]     Ibid.

[71]     Ibid. at 195.

[72]     Ibid. at 193-194.

[73]     Life in Bountiful—A report on the lifestyle of a polygamous community, Prepared for the Committee on Polygamous Issues, funded by the B.C. Ministry of Women's Equality (April 1993) at 46 [Life in Bountiful].

[74]     Ibid. at 47.

[75]     General Recommendation 24, Women and health, UN CEDAWOR, 20th Sess., UN Doc. A/54/38/Rev.1 chapter I (1999) at para. 18.

[76]     For media coverage of legislative debates and women's vulnerability, see, e.g., “Uganda's Parliament to re-examine polygamy” CNN News, online:
http://www-cgi.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9804/05/uganda.polygamy/

[77]     Esther Mayambala, “Changing the Terms of the Debate: Polygamy and the Rights of Women in Kenya and Uganda” (1998) 3 East African Journal of Peace & Human Rights 200 at 213.

[78]     Ibid.

[79]     Ibid.

[80]     A.S. Jegede & O. Odumosu, “Gender and Health Analysis of Sexual Behaviour in South‑Western Nigeria” (2003) 7 African Journal of Reproductive Health 63.

[81]     Ibid.

[82]     See Wendy L. Patten and J. Andrew Ward, “Recent Developments: Empowering Women to Stop AIDS in Côte d'Ivoire and Uganda” (1993) 6 Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 210 at 213 at 213-214.

[83]     Ibid.

[84]     Abdullahi An-Na'im, ed., Islamic Family Law in a Changing World: A Global Resource Book (London: Zed Books, 2002) at 49.

[85]     Ibid.

[86]     Marc Lacey “Africa: Uganda: Protest Over Polygamy Bill” New York Times (30 March 2005) A7.

[87]     Ibid.

[88]     Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, UN GAOR, 2001, UN Doc. S-26/2.

[89]     Daniel Woods “Bountiful, B.C.: it's a remote town in an idyllic valley where polygamy is the norm and the neighbours don't seem to mind, But are there darker secrets lurking within?” Saturday Night (4 August 2001) 26 at 26.

[90]     Sally Armstrong, “Trouble in Paradise” Chatelaine (September 2004) 138 at 142 [“Trouble in Paradise”].

[91]     Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Canada, UN CEDAWOR, 16th Sess., UN Doc. A/52/38Rev.1, (1997) at para. 328.

[92]     As cited in Bretschneider, supra note 28 at177.

[93]     Bretschneider, supra note 28.

[94]     Ibid.

[95]     This is the case in Bountiful, B. C. where women generally do not work and are not allowed to own property. See Daphne Bramham “Polygamous wives, in Canada illegally, seek to stay” The Vancouver Sun (11 August 2004).

[96]     Vince Beiser, “The perils of polygamy: An incest case in Utah highlights the controversy over ‘plural marriage'” Maclean's (26 July 1999) 32.

[97]     New York University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, “Human Rights Campaign to End Abuses Against Women and Girls in Polygamous Fundamentalist Mormon Communities in the United States” unpublished report, at 2.

[98]     Woods, supra note 89 at 30.

[99]     See, e.g., Robert Matas “Bishop loses Bountiful school case” The Globe and Mail (4 April 2003).

[100]   Adrien Katherine Wing, “Polygamy from Southern Africa to Black Britannia to Black America: Global Critical Race Feminism as Legal Reform for the Twenty-first Century” (2001) 11 J. Contemp. Legal Issues 811 at 838.

[101]   Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous” supra note 62 at 192.

[102]   Deller Ross, supra note 9at 30.

[103]   Ibid.

[104]   An-Na'im, supra note 84 at 73.

[105]   Ibid.

[106]   See A. Al-Krenawi, J.R. Graham, & S. Al-Krenawi, S. “Social work practice with polygamous families” (1997)14 Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 445 [Al-Krenawi, “Social work practice”]; K. Chaleby, “Women of polygamous marriages in an inpatient psychiatric service in Kuwait” (1987) 173 Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 56. M.F. El‑Islam, “Collaboration with families for rehabilitation of schizophrenic patients and the concept of expressed emotion” (1989) 79 Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 303.

[107]   Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous” supra note 62 at 189; See also A. Al-Krenawi, “Family therapy with a multiparental/multispousal family” (1998) 37 Family Process 65.

[108]   WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9at 198.

[109]   Ibid.

[110]   For a discussion of the role of religion and gender in citizenship, see Ayelet Shachar, “Religion, State, and the Problem of Gender: New Modes of Citizenship and Governance in Diverse Societies” (2005) 50 McGill Law Journal 49.

[111]   Howland, “Safeguarding” supra note 8 at 93.

[112]   Winston Blackmore, who until recently was the sole leader of the community, displays a framed copy of the Charter in his office. See Mike D'Amour “Polygamists Defend Lifestyle” The Calgary Sun (1 August 2004) 11.

[113]   Howland, “Safeguarding” supra note 8 at 96.

[114]   Daphne Bramham, “Arrival of sect leader's bodyguard an ominous sign” The Vancouver Sun (14 August 2004) A1.

[115]   Daphne Bramham “Religious tyrants twist tolerance for their own ends” The Vancouver Sun (17 July 2004) C7.

[116]   Ibid. at 97.

[117]   Armstrong, “Trouble in Paradise” supra note 90 at 139.

[118]   Howland, “Safeguarding” supra note 8 at 96.

[119]   A. Al-Krenawi, J.R.Graham & V. Slonim-Nevo, “Mental health aspects of Arab-Israeli adolescents from polygamous versus monogamous families” (2002) 142Journal of Social Psychology 446.

[120]   Varghese I. Cherian, “Academic Achievement of Children From Monogamous and Polygynous Families” (1989) 130 The Journal of Social Psychology 117.

[121]   Ibid. at 117.

[122]   Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous”, supra note 62 at 196.

[123]   Cherian, supra note 120 at 118.

[124]   Life in Bountiful, supra note 73 at 50.

[125]   Cherian, supra note 120 at 118.

[126]   See supra pgs. 15-17 (Section II—D “Mental Health Harms Associated with Polygyny”); Pgs. 17-19 (“Sexual and Reproductive Health Harms”).

[127]   General Comment No. 4, Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN CRCOR, 33rd Sess., U.N. Doc. CRC/GC/2003/4 (2003) at para. 31.

[128]   Ibid. at para. 30.

[129]   General Comment No. 3, HIV/AIDS and the right of the child, 33rd Sess., U.N. Doc. CRC/GC/2003/3 (2003), reprinted in Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 at 296 (2003) at para. 30.

[130]   L. Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, “Multiple partnering, gender relations and violence by women in Uganda” (1998) 4 East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights 15 at 40.

[131]   African Charter, supra note 18, Art. 17(1).

[132]   Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, supra note 130 at 40.

[133]   Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Djibouti, UN CRCOR, UN Doc. CRC/C/15/Add.131 (2000) at para. 34.

[134]   Rebecca Cook, “Reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” (1990) 30 Va. J. of Int'l Law 643 at 660 [“Reservations”].

[135]   Ibid.

[136]   General Recommendation 25, Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention (temporary special measures), UN CEDAWOR, 30th Sess., UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 7, (2004) at 282, at paras. 5, 7, 8, 10, 12.

[137]   Ibid. at para. 4.

[138]   Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 23 May 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331 (entered into force 27 January 1980).

[139]   (1979), 2 E.H.R.R. 330 (Eur. Ct. H.R.) (reprinted in Emerton, Robyn, Kristine Adams, Andrew Byrnes, & Jane Connors, International Women's Rights Cases (London: Cavendish, 2005) at 18).

[140]   Ibid.

[141]   Cook, “Reservations” supra note 134 at 662.

[142]   General Recommendation 21, Equality in Marriage and Family Relations, UN CEDAWOR, 13th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1994), at para.14.

[143]   See General Comments and Concluding Observations, supra notes 22-27.

[144]   See Deller Ross, supra note 9at 31.

[145]   Charter of the United Nations, 26 June 1945, Can. T.S. 1945 No. 7, Preamble.

[146]   Ibid. Art. 55.

[147]   Leslie J. Harris & Lee E. Teitelbaum, Family Law: Cases and Materials, 2nd ed. (Gaithersburg: Aspen Law and Business, 2000) at 271-279 as cited in Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 31.

[148]   General Recommendation 25, Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention (temporary special measures), UN CEDAWOR, 30th Sess., UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 7, (2004) at 282, at para. 10.

[149]   Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 34.

[150]   Ibid.

[151]   General Recommendation 21, Equality in Marriage and Family Relations, UN CEDAWOR, 13th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1994), at para. 14.

[152]   Andrew Byrnes, “The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women” in W. Benedek, E. Kisaakye and G. Oberleitner, eds., Human Rights of Women: International Instruments and African Experiences (London: Zed Books, 2002) 119-172 at 139.

[153]   Ibid.

[154]   See Quilter v. Attorney-General [1998] 1 NZLR 523, at 553, per Thomas J (New Zealand Court of Appeal) (referring to General Recommendation 21).

[155]   See R v. Ewanchuk [1999] 1. S.C.R. 3 (L'Heureux-Dubé Mme J. citing General Recommendation 19 in relation to violence against women).

[156]   SeeVishaka v. State of Rajasthan AIR 1997 SC 3011, at 3015 (1998) 3 BHRC 261 (Supreme Court of India) (citing General Recommendation 19 in relation to sexual harassment).

[157]   Ibid.

[158]   Ibid. at para. 13.

[159]   Ibid.

[160]   General Recommendation 21, Equality in Marriage and Family Relations, UN CEDAWOR, 13th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1994), at para. 39.

[161]   Mayambala, supra note 77 at 204.

[162]   Maura Strassberg, “Symposium: Lawyering for the Mentally Ill: The Crime of Polygamy” (2003) 12 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 353 at 369.

[163]   Ibid. at 369.

[164]   Article 17 of the Political Covenant states that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.”

[165]   See European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8(1): “Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.”

[166]   See, e.g. Dudgeon v. United Kingdom (1981), 4 E.H.R.R. 149 (European Court of Human Rights); Norris v. Ireland (1988) 13 E.H.R.R. 186 (European Court of Human Rights); Modinos v. Cyprus (1993) 16 E.H.R.R. 485 (European Court of Human Rights); Toonen v. Australia UN GAOR, Human Rights Committee, 15th Sess., Case 488/1992, UN Doc. CCPR/C/D/488/1992, Apr. 1994 (UN Human Rights Committee).

[167]   General Comment No. 16: The right to respect of Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence, and Protection of Honour and Reputation (Art. 17), UN HRCOR, Sess. No. 23, 1988, Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 (2003) at 142 at para. 1.

[168]   Ibid.

[169]   Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, supra note 130 at 22.

[170]   Ibid. at 36.

[171]   Contrast this with the Human Rights Committee statement that “Article 17 [Right to Privacy] affords protection to personal honour and reputation and States are under an obligation to provide adequate legislation to that end.” (General Comment No. 16: The right to respect of Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence, and Protection of Honour and Reputation (Art. 17), UN HRCOR, Sess. No. 23, 1988, Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 (2003) 142 at para. 11.

[172]   Itwari, supra note 49 at para. 15.

[173]   Ibid.

[174]   General Comment No. 16: The right to respect of privacy, family, home and correspondence, and protection of honour and reputation (Art. 17), UN HRCOR, 23rd Sess., U.N. Doc. Equality of rights between men and women (article 3), UN HRCOR, 68th Sess., U.N. Doc. HRI\GEN\1\Rev.1 at 21 (1994) at para. 11.

[175]   Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Yemen UN HRCOR, UN Doc. CCPR/CO/75/YEM (2002) at para. 9.

[176]   WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9at 200.

[177]   Ibid.

[178]   Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives—Francophone Africa (New York, NY: Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, 2003) at 147 [“Women of the World—Francophone Africa”].

[179]   Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, supra note 130 at 23-28.

[180]   Ibid. at 27.

[181]   Ibid, cited at 27.

[182]   Within the Bountiful, B.C. polygynous context, religious teachings regarding polygyny negatively stereotype women and girl children into reproductive and subservient roles. As Debbie Palmer, a former polygynous wife has articulated, religious doctrine maintained that she, like all girls and women, had the duty to contribute to the “production” of an abundance of children through polygynous marriage in order for the community to survive the Apocalypse. See Sally Armstrong, “Trouble in Paradise” supra note 90 at 140-142. At the centre of this patriarchal, religious dictum lies a belief that women and girls are meant to serve men and should they disobey, “their souls will burn in hell for eternity.” See “Hunting Bountiful: Polygamy in Canada” The Economist (10 July 2004) 34.

[183]   General Recommendation 25, Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention (temporary special measures), UN CEDAWOR, 30th Sess., UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 7, (2004) at 282, at para. 7.

[184]   Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Guinea, UN CEDAWOR, 25th Sess., UN Doc. A/56/38 (paras. 97-144), (2001) at para. 122.

[185]   Ibid. at para. 123.

[186]   General Recommendation 21, Equality in Marriage and Family Relations, UN CEDAWOR, 13th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1994), para. 16.

[187]   Protocol to African Charter on Rights of Women, supra note 19 at Art. 6.

[188]   See Daphne Bramham “Religious tyrants twist tolerance for their own ends” The Vancouver Sun (17 July 2004) C7; “No more polygamy with girls under 18, B.C. sect says” CBC News (20 April 2005), online: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/04/20/bountiful-wives050420.html

[189]   New York University School of Law, supra note 97.

[190]   Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age of Marriage and Registration of Marriages, 521 U.N.T.S. 231 (entered into force 9 December, 1964), Art. 1 states that “no marriage shall be legally entered into without the full and free consent of both parties.”

[191]   Status of Women in Private Law: Customs, Ancient Laws and Practices Affecting the Human Dignity of Women, GA Res. 843(IX), UN GAOR, 9th Sess., (1954).

[192]   Ibid.

[193]   Ibid.

[194]   General Recommendation 19: Violence against Women, UN CEDAWOR, 11th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1992), at para. 6.

[195]   Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, GA Res. 48/104, UN GAOR, UN Doc. A/RES/48/104 (1994), Art. 1 [Declaration on Elimination of Violence].

[196]   Ibid., Art. 2(a).

[197]   General Recommendation 19: Violence against Women, UN CEDAWOR, 11th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1992), at para. 7.

[198]   Ibid.

[199]   U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, supra note 45 at para. 63.

[200]   Ibid.

[201]   Ibid. at para. 23.

[202]   Ibid.

[203]   Ibid at para. 11.

[204]   LAW-U, “Project Report on the Domestic Violence Study,” p. 81. as cited in Human Rights Watch, “Just Die Quietly: Domestic Violence and Women's Vulnerability to HIV in Uganda” (2003) 15, No. 15(A) at 51.

[205]   Human Rights Watch interview with Ruth Mukooyo, coordinator FIDA Legal Aid Project, Luwero, December 18, 2002 as cited in Human Rights Watch, Ibid.

[206]   New York University School of Law, supra note 97 at 2.

[207]   General Recommendation 19: Violence against Women, UN CEDAWOR, 11th Sess., UN Doc. A/47/38, (1992), Para. 23.

[208]   Ibid. at para. 9.

[209]   Declaration on Elimination of Violence, supra note 195, Art. 4.

[210]   Rebecca Cook, Bernard Dickens, & Mahmoud Fathalla, Reproductive Health and Human Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) at 170 [Cook et al., Reproductive Health].

[211]   See Ana, Beatriz and Cecilia Gonzalez Perez v. Mexico (2001), Report No. 53/01, Case 11.565, (Inter-Am. Ct. H.R.), para. 27.

[212]   See Daphne Bramham “Investigators assembled to study alleged sexual abuses in Bountiful” The Vancouver Sun (23 July 2004); See Jerald and Sandra Tanner “Mormonism's Problems with Child Sexual Abuse” The Salt Lake City Messenger (Issue No. 91, November, 1996).

[213]   Cook et al., Reproductive Health, supra note 210 at 173-174.

[214]   Ibid.

[215]   Ibid. at 174.

[216]   Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization, Promotion of Sexual Health: Recommendations for Action—Proceedings of a Regional Consultation Convened by PAHO/WHO in Collaboration with the World Association for Sexology, Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, May 19-22, 2000 (Washington, DC: PAHO, 2001), available in English at http://www.paho.org/English/HCP/HCA/PromotionSexualHealth.pdf

[217]   Itwari, supra note 49.

[218]   Ibid. at para. 12.

[219]   Ibid. at para. 15.

[220]   Constitution of the World Health Organization, adopted by the International Health Conference held in New York from 19 June to 22 July 1946, signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Off. Rec. Wld Hlth Org., 2, 100), entered into force 7 April, 1948.

[221]   Cook et al., Reproductive Health, supra note 210.

[222]   “Health and Human Rights” The World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/hhr/en/).

[223]   General Comment 14, The right to the highest attainable standard of health, UN CESCROR, 22nd Sess., UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/4 (2000), reprinted in Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 at 85 (2003), at para. 30.

[224]   Ibid. at para. 21.

[225]   General Recommendation 24: Women and health, UN CEDAWOR, 20th Sess., UN Doc. A/54/38/Rev.1 chapter I (1999) at para. 13.

[226]   Ibid. at para. 15.

[227]   Ibid.

[228]   Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Fourth World Conference on Women, 15 September 1995, A/CONF.177/20 (1995) and A/CONF.177/20/Add.1 (1995) at para. 91.

[229]   Ibid. at para. 96.

[230]   Cook et al., Reproductive Health, supra note 210 at 150.

[231]   Ibid.

[232]   [1988] 1 S.C.R. 30.

[233]   Carol Weisbrod, “Universals and Particulars: A Comment on Women's Human Rights and Religious Marriage Contracts” 9 S. Cal. Rev. L. & Women's Stud. 77 at 95.

[234]   The lyrics of the Wagoner's Lad resonate with some of the harms women suffer in polygynous contexts:

Oh, hard is the fortune of all womankind,
She's always controlled, She's always confined,
Controlled by her parents until she's a wife,
A slave to her husband the rest of her life.
(as cited in, Weisbrod, Ibid).

[235]   See Daphne Bramham, “Religious tyrants twist tolerance for their own ends” The Vancouver Sun (17 July 2004) C7.

[236]   Woods, supra note 89 at 26.

[237]   Al-Krenawi, “Women from Polygamous” supra note 62 at 195.

[238]   For media coverage of child marriage within the Bountiful context, see “No more polygamy with girls under 18, B.C. sect says” CBC News (20 April 2005), online: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/04/20/bountiful-wives050420.html;
See Daphne Bramham “Arrival of sect leader's bodyguard an ominous sign” The Vancouver Sun (14 August 2004) A1 noting that marriage assignment within the Fundamentalist Mormon faith is based on the notion that priests or prophets get “a revelation from God about who can marry.” For a discussion of child marriage as a form of slavery, see Elizabeth Warner, “Behind the Wedding Veil: Child Marriage as a Form of Trafficking in Girls” (2004) 12 Am. U.J. Gender Soc. Pol'y & L. 233.

[239]   See S. Coliver, “The Right to Information Necessary for Reproductive Health and Choice Under International Law” in S. Coliver (ed.), The Right to Know: Human Rights and Access to Reproductive Health Information (London and Philadelphia: Article 19 and University Press, 1995) as cited in Cook et al., Reproductive Health, supra note 210.

[240]   Life in Bountiful, supra note 73 at 39.

[241]   Ibid.

[242]   Woods, supra note 89 at 30.

[243]   Cook et al., Reproductive Health, supra note 210 at 212.

[244]   Kjeldsen v. Denmark (1976) 1 E.H.R.R. 711, para. 53 (European Ct. of Human Rights).

[245]   General Comment 13, The right to education (Art.13), UN CESCROR, 21st Sess., UN Doc. E/C.12/1999/10 (1999), at para. 1.

[246]   See Daphne Bramham “U.S. officials probe men who run Bountiful school” The Vancouver Sun (27 August 2004) A1.

[247]   In 2003, Bountiful schools received $460,826 in government grants. See Daphne Bramham “Religious tyrants” supra note 236.

[248]   See Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 38;Altman & Ginat, supra note 28at 36-37.

[249]   Mashhour, supra note 35 at 568.

[250]   Ibid.

[251]   A. Yusuf Ali, “The Holy Qu'ran: Text, Translation and Commentary” Sura 4, verse 3 (1983) as cited in Mashhour, supra note 35 at 568.

[252]   Mashhour notes that according to Imam Mohamad Abdou, a great nineteenth century Egyptian reformer and theologian, “polygamy, although permitted in the Quran, is a concession to necessary social conditions that was given with great reluctance, inasmuch as it is permissible only when the husband is able to take care of all of his wives and to give to each her rights with impartiality and justice. … [and] with perfect equality...” supra note 35 at 568.

[253]   Mashhour, supra note 35 at 585.

[254]   Howland, “Challenge of Religious Fundamentalism” supra note 8 at 341-342.

[255]   Ibid. at 342

[256]   Ibid.

[257]   General Comment No. 22: The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Art. 18), UN HRCOR, 48th Sess., Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI\GEN\1\Rev.1 at 35 (1994) at para. 2.

[258]   Kokkinakis v. Greece (1993), 260A Eur. Ct. H.R. (Ser. A) 18.

[259]   Ibid. at para. 31.

[260]   Ibid. at para. 48. The Court noted that “improper proselytism” may “take the form of activities offering material or social advantages with a view to gaining new members for a Church or exerting improper pressure on people in distress or in need; it may even entail the use of violence or brainwashing; more generally, it is not compatible with respect for the freedom of thought, conscience and religion of others.”

[261]   Ibid. at para. 42.

[262]   Ibid.

[263]   Ibid. para. 44.

[264]   Sally Armstrong “If there's a place for Sharia, it's not Ontario” The International Herald Tribunal (11 February, 2005), online:
http://wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd%5B157%5D=x-157-128270)

[265]   Canadian Council of Muslim Women, “Position Statement on the Proposed Implementation of Sections of Muslim Law [Sharia] in Canada” (Revised May 25, 2004), online: http://www.ccmw.com/Position%20Papers/Position_Sharia_Law.htm

[266]   Ibid.

[267]   Ibid.

[268]   See “No more polygamy with girls under 18, B.C. sect says” CBC News (20 April 2005), online: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/04/20/bountiful-wives050420.html

[269]   Ibid.

[270]   Sandra Lovelace v. Canada, Communication No. R.6/24, U.N. Doc. Supp. No. 40 (A/36/40) at 166 (1981) (reprinted in Emerton, Robyn, Kristine Adams, Andrew Byrnes, & Jane Connors, International Women's Rights Cases (London: Cavendish, 2005) at 261).

[271]   Ibid.

[272]   General Comment No. 23: The rights of minorities (Art. 27), UN HRCOR, 50th Sess., U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.5 (1994) at para. 6.1.

[273]   General Comment 11, Plans of action for primary education, UN CESCROR, 20th Sess., U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1999/4 (1999) (Twentieth session, 1999), U.N. Doc.).

[274]   Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Benin, UN CESCROR, 28th Sess., U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.78 (2002), at para. 13. The Committee has similarly condemned polygamy as being incompatible with the rights protected under the Economic Covenant in several other Concluding Observations (Cameroon, 1999; Kyrgystan, 2000; Nepal, 2001; Nigeria, 1998; Senegal, 2001) (see supra note 24).

[275]   Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, GA Res. 36/55, UN GAOR, 36th Sess., Supp. No. 15, UN Doc. A/36/684 (1981) [Declaration on All Forms of Intolerance].

[276]   See Donna Sullivan, “Gender Equality and Religious Freedom: Toward a Framework for Conflict Resolution” (1992) 24 N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. 795 at 836 cited in Natasha Bakht, Arbitration, Religion and Family Law: Private Justice on the Backs of Women (National Association of Women and the Law: March, 2005) at 44.

[277]   Natasha Bakht, Arbitration, Religion and Family Law: Private Justice on the Backs of Women (National Association of Women and the Law: March, 2005) at 44.

[278]   General Comment No. 22, The right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, UN HRCOR, 48th Sess., U.N. Doc. HRI\GEN\1\Rev.1 at 35 (1994) at para. 4 where the HRC lists a broad range of acts included within the freedom to manifest one's religion:

“The freedom to manifest religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching encompasses a broad range of acts. The concept of worship extends to ritual and ceremonial acts giving direct expression to belief, as well as various practices integral to such acts, including the building of places of worship, the use of ritual formulae and objects, the display of symbols, and the observance of holidays and days of rest. The observance and practice of religion or belief may include not only ceremonial acts but also such customs as the observance of dietary regulations, the wearing of distinctive clothing or head coverings, participation in rituals associated with certain stages of life, and the use of a particular language customarily spoken by a group. In addition, the practice and teaching of religion or belief includes acts integral to the conduct by religious groups of their basic affairs, such as the freedom to choose their religious leaders, priests and teachers, the freedom to establish seminaries or religious schools and the freedom to prepare and distribute religious texts or publications.” Notably, there is no indication that the right includes a right to be governed by religious laws (familial or otherwise) through religious tribunals.

[279]   See Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 36 for discussion; Declaration on All Forms of Intolerance, supra note 275.

[280]   Singh Bhinder, supra note 5 at para. 6.2.

[281]   General Comment No. 22: The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Art. 18), UN HRCOR, 48th Sess.,Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI\GEN\1\Rev.1 at 35 (1994) at para. 8.

[282]   See, e.g. jurisprudence permitting limitations on the public use of religious headscarves for the purpose of promoting gender equality and maintaining secularism in official settings: Case of Leyla Sahin v. Turkey (2005), Eur. Ct. H.R., Appl. 44774/98, supra note 6.

[283]   Law Reports of the Commonwealth [1991] LRC (Const) as cited in Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 37.

[284]   Ibid. at 308.

[285]   Ibid. at 309.

[286]   [1998] O.J. No. 5054.

[287]   Ibid. at para. 13.

[288]   Ibid. at para. 23.

[289]   Ibid. at para. 25.

[290]   (1879) 98 U.S. 145.

[291]   Ibid.

[292]   Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 38-39.

[293]   State of Bombay v. Narasu Appa Mali (1952) A.I.R. 84 Bom.; Srinivasa v. Saraswati Ammal (1952) A.I.R. 193 Mad.

[294]   See Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 39-40 for a discussion of this argument.

[295]   Ibid. at 39.

[296]   General Comment No. 28: Equality of rights between men and women (article 3), UN HRCOR, 68th Sess., U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10 (2000) at para. 32.

[297]   In the United Kingdom, marriages in polygynous form are not recognized. See Ohochuku v. Ohochuku (1966) W.L.R. 183.

[298]   Bibi v. the United Kingdom, Appl 19628/92, 29 June 1992 (Eur. Comm. H.R.).

[299]   See Sonja Starr & Lea Brilmayer, “Family Separation as a Violation of International Law” (2002) 21 Berkeley J. Int'l L. 213.

[300]   See Bibi, supra note 298.

[301]   Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights states:

Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

[302]   Bibi, supra note 298.

[303]   Canadian immigration policy presently excludes those living in polygamous relationships; see “An ideal candidate for immigration is denied after it is learned he has two wives,” National Post, Feb. 1, 2005, p. A7; and Ali v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (1998), 154 F.T.R. 285.

[304]   See Prakash A. Shah, “Attitudes to Polygamy in English Law” (2003) 52 Int'l Comparative and Law Quarterly 369.

[305]   Ibid.

[306]   Starr and Brilmayer, supra note 299 at 245.

[307]   Ibid.

[308]   Judy Scales-Trent, “African Women in France: Immigration, Family, and Work” (1999) 24 Brooklyn J. Int'l L. 705 at 720.

[309]   Starr and Brilmayer, supra note 300 at 245.

[310]   See Marlise Simons “African Women in FranceBattling Polygamy” New York Times (26 January 1996) A1, A6.

[311]   Okin, supra note 42at 10.

[312]   Starr and Brilmayer, supra note 300 at 246.

[313]   Ibid.

[314]   Ibid. at 247.

[315]   Ibid.

[316]   Ibid.

[317]   Judy Scales-Trent, supra note 308 at 721.

[318]   Starr and Brilmayer, supra note 300 at 249.

[319]   Ibid. at 248.

[320]   Ibid. at 249-250.

[321]   See Bibi, supra note 298.

[322]   Starr and Brilmayer, supra note 300 at 253.

[323]   International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, G.A. Res. 2106 (XX), UN GAOR, 21st Sess., Supp. No. 14, U.N. Doc. A/6014 (1966), 660 U.N.T.S. 195 (entered into force 4 January, 1969), Article 5 prohibits race, ethnicity, and national origin discrimination in “the right to marry and the choice of spouse.”

[324]   Starr and Brilmayer, supra note 300 at 255.

[325]   Hugh Kindred, International Law, Chiefly as Interpreted and Applied in Canada, 6th ed. (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2000) at 130.

[326]   See Law Reform Commission of Canada, supra note 3.

[327]   For relevant jurisprudence, see Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandal v. the United Kingdom, 15/1983/71/107-109 (ECHR) noting that sex discrimination should receive heightened attention (reprinted in Emerton, Robyn, Kristine Adams, Andrew Byrnes, & Jane Connors, International Women's Rights Cases (London: Cavendish, 2005) at 618); Advisory Opinion on the Proposed Amendments to the Naturalization Provisions of the Political Constitution of Costa Rica (1984) 5 Hum. Rts. L.J. 161 (Inter-Amer. Ct.) holding that proposed naturalization amendments constituted discrimination contrary to the obligation to ensure equality of spouses within the family and equal protection of the law (reprinted in Emerton, Robyn, Kristine Adams, Andrew Byrnes, & Jane Connors, International Women's Rights Cases (London: Cavendish, 2005) at 533); Petrovic v. Austria (1998), 33 E.H.R.R. 307 (Eur. Ct. H.R.) regarding parental leave legislation. For relevant academic commentary, see Howland, “Challenge of Religious Fundamentalism” supra note 8 at 334. See also Anne F. Bayefsky, “The Principle of Equality or Non-Discrimination in International Law” (1990) 11 Hum. Rts. L.J. 1 at 19 as cited in Howland.

[328]   See, e.g., The Women's Convention, The Political Covenant, The Economic Covenant, Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (1967), Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993).

[329]   Supra note 328.

[330]   Howland, “Challenge of Religious Fundamentalism” supra note 8 at 335.

[331]   Dissenting Opinion of Tanaka J., South-West Africa Cases (Second Phase), Judgment of 18 July 1966, [1966] I.C.J. Rep. 284 as cited in Ian Brownlie, ed., Basic Documents on Human Rights, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981) at 451.

[332]   [1950] I.C.J. Rep. 148, as cited by Tanaka J., ibid at 451.

[333]   Lord McNair, as cited by Tanaka J., ibid at 451.

[334]   Ibid.

[335]   Ibid. at 454.

[336]   Ibid.

[337]   Ibid.

[338]   Deller Ross, supra note 9 at 24; WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9.

[339]   WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9at 199.

[340]   Nasir, Jamal J. The Islamic Law of Personal Status, 3rd ed. (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2002) at 67.

[341]   Ibid.

[342]   Ibid.

[343]   Ibid.

[344]   Australian Law Reform Commission, Multiculturalism and the Law, Final Paper - ALRC 57 (Sydney: Australian Law Reform Commission, 1992)

[345]   Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) s. 23(1)(a); s. 23B(1)(a) as cited Ibid.

[346]   Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) s. 94 as cited Ibid.

[347]   As cited in Brenda Cossman and Carol Rogerson “Family Law—Cases and Materials”, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2005-2006 at 174; available online: http://www.immi.gov.au/multicultural/_inc/publications/agenda/agenda89/toc.htm.

[348]   Ibid.

[349]   Ibid. at 67.

[350]   Ibid.at 93.

[351]   Ibid. at 94.

[352]   Ibid.

[353]   See Université de Sherbrooke, Site International Francophone sur le Droit des Femmes—Lois et règlements, online: http://www.usherbrooke.ca/sifdf/base_de_connaissance/lois_et_reglements.html.

[354]   See discussion supra Pgs. 66-69 (Right to Respect for One's Private and Family Life).

[355]   Canadian domestic family law through its recognition of cohabitation relationships for spousal support, child support, and constructive trust property remedies can provide protection for vulnerable de facto polygynous wives.

[356]   Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s.293.

[357]   Ibid., s. 293(1)(a).

[358]   E. Greenspan & M. Rosenberg, Martin's Criminal Code, Student Edition(Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2004) at 578, See R. v. Tolhurst, R. v. Wright (1937), 68 C.C.C. 319, [1937] 3 D.L.R. 808 (Ont. C.A.).

[359]   Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s.293(1)(b).

[360]   Offences Against the Person Act, 1861, (Eng.), c. 100, s. 57.

[361]   Ibid.

[362]   See discussion supra Pgs. 65-66 (Right to Respect for One's Private and Family Life).

[363]   Ibid.

[364]   See “Polygamy law set for challenge” BBC News (18 June 2000), online: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/791263.stm

[365]   Utah Const. art. III, § 1.

[366]   Utah Code Ann. § 76-7-101 (2003).

[367]   See id. § 30-1-16 (1998).

[368]   Ibid.

[369]   Bronson v. Swensen, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2374 (D. Utah 15 February, 2005) [“Bronson”].

[370]   Ibid. at 2.

[371]   Ibid. at 7.

[372]   Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374, 384 (U.S. 1978) at 384 as cited in Ibid.

[373]   Bronson, supra note 370 at 8-10.

[374]   123 S. Ct. 2472 (2003).

[375]   As cited in Bronson, supra note 370 at 12.

[376]   Ibid. at 13.

[377]   David Pearl & Werner Menski, Muslim Family Law, 3rd ed. (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1998) at 242.

[378]   Ibid.

[379]   An-Na'im, supra note 84.

[380]   Ibid.

[381]   Nasir, supra note 341 at 67.

[382]   Ibid at 68.

[383]   WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9at 201. Quazi Courts are staffed by judges (quazis) who are appointed by the Judicial Services Commission. Male Muslims of good character and position are eligible for appointment as Quazis.

[384]   Nasir, supra note 341 at 68.

[385]   Ibid.

[386]   Ibid.

[387]   WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9 at 200-201.

[388]   Nasir, supra note 341 at 67.

[389]   Ibid.

[390]   Ibid.

[391]   WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9at 200.

[392]   Ibid.

[393]   Ibid.

[394]   Sheikh Moh v. Badrunnissa Bibee, 7 Beng LR App 5, Badarannissa Bibi v. Mafiattala, 7 Beng LR 442 as cited in Itwari, supra note 49 at 686.

[395]   Ibid.

[396]   Ibid.

[397]   Ibid.

[398]   An-Na'im, supra note 84 at 47.

[399]   Concluding Observations on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Tanzania, 19th Sess., UN Doc. A/53/38/Rev.1, (1998), at para. 229.

[400]   WLUML, “Knowing Our Rights”, supra note 9at 199.

[401]   Ibid.

[402]   Ibid at 200.

[403]   Ibid.

[404]   (1989) A.P. 1. HLR 183.

[405]   Ibid.

[406]   Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives - Anglophone Africa, 2001 Progress Report (New York: Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, 2001) at 25 [“Women of the World—Anglophone Africa”]

[407]   Ibid.

[408]   Ibid. at 61.

[409]   An-Na'im, supra note 84 at 48.

[410]   Ibid.

[411]   Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, “Women of the World—Anglophone Africa”, supra note 407 at 61.

[412]   Ibid. at 167.

[413]   Ibid.

[414]   Ibid.

[415]   Ibid.

[416]   Center for Reproductive Law and Policy “Women of the World - Francophone Africa”, supra note 178 at 191.

[417]   Ibid.

[418]   Ibid. at 191.

[419]   Ibid.

[420]   Ibid. at 103.

[421]   Ibid. at 36.

[422]   Ibid. at 192.

[423]   Concluding Observations on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Nigeria, UN CEDAWOR, UN doc A/53/38/Rev.1(1998), at paras. 138-174.

[424]   Knop, supra note 32 at 332-340.

[425]   Ibid. at 333-334.

[426]   Ibid. at 337.

[427]   Ibid.

[428]   Ibid.

[429]   Ibid.

[430]   The Visiting Mission's approach was culturally relativist to the extent it sought to apply only local African cultural standards in assessing polygyny.

[431]   Ibid. at 339.

[432]   Ibid.

[433]   Ibid.

[434]   Ibid.

[435]   Protocol to African Charter on Rights of Women, supra note 19 at Art. 6 (c).

[436]   New York University School of Law, supra note 97.

[437]   Nicholas Bala, “Controversy over Couples in Canada: The Evolution of Marriage and Other Adult Interdependent Relationships” (2003) 29 Queen's L.J. 41 at 87.

[438]   Bala cites e.g. Yew v. British Columbia, [1924] 1 D.L.R. 1166 (B.C.S.C.), where limited recognition was given to a widow of an actual polygamous marriage, but contrasts this with Lim v. Lim, [1948] 2 D.L.R. 353 (B.C.S.C.).

[439]   See Ontario Family Law Act, RSO 1990, c.F.3 (s. 1); See Yukon Family Property and Support Act, RSY 1986, c. 63 (s.1); See North West Territories & Nunavut Family Law Act, S.N.W.T. 1997, c. 18, s. 1(2). This reflects the Private International Law concept of upholding marriages entered into in good faith by parties according to the law determining legal capacity to marry of one's domicile. This enables parties to such marriages to claim division of property from their spouse.

[440]   Even where provincial legislatures choose not to extend their matrimonial property schemes to include unmarried couples through cohabitation requirements, they should at the least include de jure and de facto polygamous spouses within the scheme. They could require that parties show some evidence that their union was formed through a rite or ceremony purporting to create a polygamous union, for example.

[441]   See description of the Gabie-Hassam case available online through “The Women's Legal Center”, South Africa, who is submitting an amicus brief in the case:
http://www.wlce.co.za/index.html.

[442]   Ibid.

[443]   New York University School of Law, supra note 98.

[444]   Rebecca Cook, “Obligations To Adopt Temporary Special Measures Under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” in I. Boerefijn et al eds., Temporary Special Measures (Antwerpen: Intersentia, 2003) at 119 [“Temporary Special Measures”].

[445]   Ibid. at 129 - 131.

[446]   General Recommendation 5: Temporary Special Measures, UN CEDAWOR, 7th Sess., U.N. Doc. A/43/38 at 109 (1988).

[447]   Ibid.

[448]   General Recommendation 25, Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention (temporary special measures), UN CEDAWOR, 30th Sess., UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 7, (2004) at 282, at para. 7.

[449]   Cook, “Temporary Special Measures”, supra note 443.

[450]   Many of these recommendations have been drawn from New York University School of Law, supra note 97 and Life in Bountiful, supra note 73.

[451]   As L'Heureux-Dubé Mme. J. noted in R. v. Ewanchuk, there is a need to address gendered thinking that may obfuscate harms to women and girls. Her reference to The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women's 1992 General Recommendation 19 where it suggested that “gender-sensitive training of judicial and law enforcement officers and other public officials is essential for the effective implementation of the Convention” is particularly relevant to the Bountiful context.

[452]   This was recommended in the Life in Bountiful report, supra note 73.

[453]   As the Life in Bountiful report suggests, the recovery process for individuals to build a strong, competent sense of identity is likely not possible in a short-term placement in a shelter. Rather, individuals may need a more extended residential program with skilled, sensitive counselling.

[454]   See Daphne Bramham “Investigators assembled to study alleged sexual abuses in Bountiful” The Vancouver Sun (23 July 2004).

[455]   Woods, supra note 89 at 27.

[456]   Daphne Bramham “Investigators assembled to study alleged sexual abuses in Bountiful” The Vancouver Sun (23 July 2004).

[457]   Daphne Bramham “Bountiful schools get public funds, but government scrutiny is suspect” The Vancouver Sun (15 December 2004).

[458]   For a discussion of this approach, see Leon Sheleff, “Human Rights, Western Values and Tribal Traditions: Between Recognition and Repugnancy, Between Monogamy and Polygamy” (1994) 12 Tel Aviv University Studies in Law 237.

[459]   Cited in Florence Rita Arrey, “Legislative and Judicial Treatment of Family Relations in Cameroon” 138-144 in Bringing International Human Rights Law Home: Judicial Colloquium on the Domestic Application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 2000).

[460]   Ibid.

[461]   Adetoun Ilumoka, “Legal Imperialism and Chauvinism: Lessons from Africa” (2005) 48 Publications of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law 1 at 11.

[462]   (1991) NWLR Pt. 194 at 739 as cited in Ibid. at 10.

[463]   Ibid.

[464]   Ilumoka, supra note 461 at 11.

[465]   Bhe and Others v. The Magistrate, Khayelitsha and Others Case CCT 49/03; Shibi v Sithole and Others Case CCT 69/03; South African Human Rights Commission and Another v President of the Republic of South Africa and Another Case CCT 50/03 (2004) (South African Constitutional Court)

[466]   Ibid. at para. 131.

[467]   Ibid. at para. 238.

[468]   Madhavi Sunder, “Piercing the Veil” (2003) 112 Yale L.J. 1436.

[469]   Ibid. at 1437—1438.

[470]   Life in Bountiful, supra note 73 at 46.

[471]   See Daphne Bramham “Investigators assembled to study alleged sexual abuses in Bountiful” The Vancouver Sun (23 July 2004).

[472]   Life in Bountiful, supra note 73 at 55.

[473]   Janet Bennion, Women of principle: female networking in contemporary Mormon polygyny (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).

[474]   Ibid at 129-130.

[475]   Foreign Affairs Canada, “Women's Human Rights” available online at:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/foreign_policy/human-rights/Iwe2-rights-en.asp

[476]   Ibid.

[477]   Daniels v. White, [1968] S.C.R. 517 (S.C.C.) at 541.

[478]   [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1038 quoting from In Reference re Public Service Employee Relations Act [1987] 1 S.C.R. 313.

[479]   Kindred, supra note 326 at 166. There is nevertheless some ongoing debate about whether international custom applies directly within Canada. See Anne Warner La Forest, “Domestic Application of International Law in Charter Cases: Are We There Yet?” (2004) 37 U.B.C. L. Rev. 157.

[480]   2002 S.C.R. 1; See Elizabeth Brandon, “Does International Law Mean Anything in Canadian Courts?” (2001) 11 Journal of Environmental Law and Practice399 at 402.

[481]   S.J. Toope, “The Uses of Metaphor: International Law and the Supreme Court of Canada” (2001) 80 Can. Bar Rev. 534.

[482]   Brandon, supra note 480 at 400.

[483]   Gérard V. La Forest, “The Expanding Role of the Supreme Court of Canada in International Law Issues” (1996) 34 Can. Y.B. Int'l L. 89 at 100-01 as cited in Elizabeth Brandon.

[484]   Brandon, supra note 480 at 402.

[485]   [1999] 1. S.C.R. 3.

[486]   Ibid. at para. 73.

[487]   Ibid.

[488]   [2002] 1 S.C.R. 3 at 31.

[489]   [1990] 3 S.C.R. 697 at 750.

[490]   [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817.

[491]   Ibid.

[492]   Mayo Moran, “Authority, Influence, and Persuasion: Baker, Charter Values and the Puzzle of Method” in David Dyzenhaus, ed.The Unity of Public Law (Oxford and Portland Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2004) 389 at 408.

[493]   Baker, supra note 480 at para. 70.

[494]   Moran, supra note 492 at 404.

[495]   Keegstra, supra note 489 at 750.

[496]   Byrnes, supra note 152 at 131.

[497]   Byrnes, supra note 152 cites a number of reporting functions that the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights has identified and that would similarly apply to the Women's Convention. See 131‑132.

[498]   Ibid. at 133.

[499]   Ibid. at 136.

[500]   Ibid. at 137.

[501]   See U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women, online: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/protocol/sigop.htm

[502]   Rikki Holtmaat, Towards Different Law and Public Policy: The significance of Article 5a CEDAW for the elimination of structural gender discrimination (Den Haag: Reed Business Information, 2004) at 78: Where government violations of treaty norms are continuously highlighted in the international arena, this can be an important catalyst for change.

[503]   Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, U.N. Doc. A/RES/54/5, 15 October 1999, Art. 2. [“Optional Protocol to Women's Convention”].

[504]   Laboni Hoq, “The Women's Convention and Its Optional Protocol: Empowering Women to Claim Their Internationally Protected Rights” (2001) 32 Columbia H.R. L. Rev. 677at 694.

[505]   Ibid. at 694-695.

[506]   Optional Protocol to Women's Convention, supra note 503, Art. 4.

[507]   SeeLynne Cohen, “One mother (Debbie Palmer) of eight sues for polygamy (at a polygamist colony in B.C.)” The Report (6 January 2003) 33.

[508]   “Hunting Bountiful; Polygamy in Canada (A polygamous enclave in British Columbia)” The Economist (10 July 2004) 34.

[509]   See New York University School of Law, supra note 97; “Group Urges More Polygamy Prosecutions” New York Times (16 June 2005).

[510]   “Utah: Polygamist Convicted Of Rape” New York Times (25 June 2002) A-16.

[511]   Hoq, supra note 504 at 695.

[512]   Ibid.

[513]   Optional Protocol to Women's Convention, supra note 503, Art. 8.

[514]   Hoq, supra note 504 at 430. Hoq provides the example of sati, a Hindu practice of wife burning upon her husband's death as an example of an “isolated violation” that CEDAW could investigate. While the practice is illegal in most countries, it nevertheless remains common in some rural areas.

[515]   Ibid. Hoq notes that the Race Convention, for example, requires that inquires be brought by another State at 698.

[516]   Ibid.

[517]   Marion Boyd, “Dispute Resolution in Family Law: Protecting Choice, Promoting Inclusion” (December, 2004) at 23.

[518]   For a discussion on the formal organization of the HRC, see Henry J. Steiner and Philip Alston, International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) at 706-708.

[519]   Sarah Joseph, Jenny Schultz, and Melissa Castan, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Cases, Materials, and Commentary (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000) at 11.

[520]   Ibid. at 12.

[521]   Ibid. It also monitors implementation of the two optional protocols to the Convention regarding the involvement of children in armed conflict and on sale of children, and child prostitution and child pornography.

[522]   As cited in Ibid. at 14.

[523]   See, e.g. Toonen v. Australia, Communication No. 488/1992, U.N. Doc CCPR/C/50/D/488/1992 (1994), which led to the enactment of federal legislation providing a remedy and the eventual repeal of the impugned Tasmanian law as cited in Joseph et al., supra note 519 at 14.

[524]   See Office of the High Commission of Human Rights, “Convention on the Rights of the Child”, available online: http://www.ohchr.org/english/countries/ratification/11.htm.

[525]   Steiner and Alston, supra note 518 at 511.

[526]   Office of the High Commission, supra note 524.

[527]   Joesph et al., supra note 519 at 468; For a discussion of U.N. Human Rights Treaty Regimes, see Steiner and Alston, supra note 518.

[528]   See Part II—H above, “Harms to Children of Polygynous Unions” at 24-26.

[529]   Supra note 26.

[530]   Supra note 27.

[531]   Declarations, which are typically resolutions of the UN General Assembly, are not treaties, which states can ratify and be legally bound by. Rather, they are nonbinding statements that articulate a common international standard that UN member states should follow. Declarations may provide a basis for the quicker crystallization of international customary norms. See Ian Brownlie, Principles of International Law, 6th ed. (2003: Oxford, Oxford University Press) at14‑15. For a discussion of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in terms of State Responsibility, see Heléne Combrinck, “Positive State Duties to Protect Women from Violence: Recent South African Developments”, (1998) 20 Human Rights Quarterly 666 at 674.

[532]   Some public international law scholars assert that the concluding statements of a conference of states may be a form of multilateral treaty. Even if interpreted only as an instrument recording decisions that were not unanimously adopted, such declarations may nevertheless provide cogent evidence of the state of customary international law on the subject and emerging international norms. See Brownlie, supra note 5311 at 14. At a minimum, it does indicate serious international political commitments by states. For a discussion of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action in terms of State responsibilities to protect women from violence, see Combrinck, supra note 531.