Bigamy decriminalised in Utah as lawmakers try to end ‘culture of fear, isolation and secrecy’

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The state of Utah no longer treats bigamy as a crime after downgrading the practice to an infraction – the same level as a parking ticket.

The change in the law, under which “unlawful cohabitation” has been a crime since 1935, is intended to ensure that people living in families and communities that practice so-called “plural marriage” no longer live in fear of the law, which some say has left victims of abuse too afraid of the authorities to seek help and allowed abusers to keep their activities hidden.

Polygamy has been practised in parts of Utah since before the state was founded in 1896, though it was outlawed within the mainstream Mormon church in the early 1900s. The law banning it has gone largely unenforced in recent decades, and it does continue in certain parts of the state mostly among fundamentalist and fringe sects.

The law now taking effect was sponsored by Republican state senator Deidre Henderson, who has long called for decriminalisation on the grounds that the law has not stopped polygamy, but instead enabled abuse by keeping the practice underground.

In a February op-ed for the Salt Lake Tribune, Ms Henderson told how she had heard horrifying stories from current and former polygamists who described how family members used the threat of the law to pressure them into keeping quiet about abuse they suffered.

“I was both moved and horrified by their personal accounts. The history of raids and family separations, combined with the blanket ban on an entire lifestyle, leads to the fear that an investigation might break up an entire family, removing the children and incarcerating the parents. That’s a high hurdle, and so abuse is kept quiet.”

She cited the case of Warren Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs, who married more than 80 women, was accused of multiple abuses during his time as leader of the church, and was convicted on two counts of child sexual assault.

“One county attorney explained to me that Warren Jeffs had “weaponized” Utah law in order to perpetuate that fear and isolation,” wrote Ms Henderson. “Branding all polygamists as felons obstructs integration into society and limits access to education, healthcare, and justice; it also allows abuse to escalate unchecked.”

As the law she sponsored took effect, Ms Henderson tweeted: “Addressing this homegrown human rights crisis is one of my most significant legislative accomplishments, and by far the most difficult. Harsh gov’t actions and laws for 85 years have only led to a culture of fear, isolation and secrecy, not stopped polygamy.”