Fundamentalist Mormon polygamy and the traffic in women

Abstract

This article contends that the practice of Fundamentalist Mormon polygamy should be recognised by states and the international human rights community as a form of trafficking in women. In particular, it draws on the definition of ‘trafficking in persons’ established in international human rights law to demonstrate how the custom meets internationally agreed upon criteria for the crime. The article is conceived as a response to the growing body of literature that emphasises women's agency and resilience in Mormon polygamy, and that critiques analyses focusing on the harms of the practice to women. It suggests that these works fail to adequately take into account the broader context of inequality between women and men in which Fundamentalist Mormon polygamy occurs.