"Polygamy, Practiced in Secrecy, Follows Africans to New York City" (3/23/07 p. A1)

In America, a man having more than one wife is unethical. Not telling one wife you have another wife is also...unethical.

Odine D. came home one night after work to find a strange woman sitting in her living room. Her husband introduced her as his other wife. Odine's husband's reply was simply that Islamic precepts allow him to have up to four wives and get used to it.

Having multiple wives is known as polygamy, and is outlawed in America. According to The Times, it has long been associated with Mormon splinter groups out West, not immigrants in New York.

Following the March 7 Bronx fire, husband double takes have followed. No one knows how prevalent polygamy is in New York. Under immigration law, polygamy is grounds for exclusion from the United States. If it is practiced at all, it must be done in secrecy.

There are many places throughout the world that polygamy is widespread. In some countries, as 43 percent of women are involved in a polygamous marriage. As difficult this is for some of these women, they accept it because it is part of one's religion.

There is a reason this is forbidden in the United States and why immigrants may be removed from the country if they practice it. It is highly unethical and will not be accepted into American society. African culture may look at it as a way of life and a "normal" practice, however, the reasonable and even unhealthy ethics behind it are enough to make the cultures that do allow it wonder.

The article spoke of women who were involved with such practices and how they felt about it. Most didn't have anything positive to say. As stated in the article: "The woman is in effect the slave of the man," said a Guinean businesswoman. "If you protest, your husband will hit you, and if you call the police, he's going to divorce you, and the whole community will scorn you."

Domestic violence, apparently associated with this practice is also unethical and flat out wrong. How can this be happening? Such articles need to give our country the initiative to step up on enforcing the laws against polygamy.

The health factors behind such a practice are also a tie into the ethics in this issue. For a man to have multiple wives assists in the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases. Especially if this is a popular way of life in Africa. I think the mystery as to why AIDS is on such a rise in Africa is solved. Bringing such practices to American soil, secretive or not, still plants the possiblity for AIDS to be even more of a problem in our country than it already is. Polygamy must end.

The article has several specific examples of women discussing their polygamy situation. One wife had 11 children and in the next room there was another wife with three children. Doesn't that make for a memorable Christmas card?

Many wives are vulnerable to be deported because, under American law, a man can only enter the country with one spouse. Obviously, the system has a glitch in it if these women are still finding their way into the country. I see this whole concept as one big mess that needs to be paid more attention to. Prior to reading this article, I was unaware of the problem, I imagine most Americans are. Ethically, we need to be more educated on it to help end the problem for the sake of everyone involved, directly or not.

Article by: NINA BERNSTEIN