






“It’s an important finding because we have this very strong language used by the United Nations and others that polygyny is universally harmful,” Lawson said.

“Most of the policy speak on this topic is not actually very evidence based… What we are arguing for is cultural sensitivity.”

Polygyny refers to marriage systems where men can have multiple wives, while polygamy means marrying more than one wife or husband at the same time.

The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women says polygamous marriages should be discouraged and outlawed because they are unequal and have negative emotional and financial impacts on women and children.

“Of course we want to improve the status of women,” Lawson said. “But if you just change marriage laws without addressing the underlying position of women within society, you may restrict their options, so it could be detrimental.”

One in four married women in rural Tanzania have at least one co-wife, government data shows.

Maasai women often enter polygamous marriages with wealthier men in the community, unlike the Meru, who live on fertile mountain slopes near the city of Arusha and tend to be better educated and monogamous.

“Polygyny can be potentially protective within cultural settings where women lack direct control over resources,” said Lawson.

For example, under the custom of widow inheritance, women whose husbands die are re-married to the brother of the deceased, often as a second or later wife.

He is expected to provide for the widow who loses her marital home when her husband dies because women traditionally cannot inherit land.

“In contexts where women are unable to own resources, it can be within their strategic interests, within those confines, to share a husband,” said Lawson. (Reporting by Katy Migiro; Editing by Ros Russell)