International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation ■ Vol. 1, No. 1, 2020 79
religious sovereignty was being questioned
due to allegations of child sexual abuse
(CSA) and the rights of women.
A case in point is the FLDS, a powerful
splinter group of the Mormon religion (see
“Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints).
Concentrated in Arizona and Utah with
another large satellite group in Bountiful,
British Columbia, Canada, and several
smaller known outposts in Mexico, FLDS
holds polygamy to be its religious right, the
will of God, marrying underage girls to men
often two or three times their age. The
rationale for polygamy is that for a man to
enter the highest level of heaven, known as
the Celestial Kingdom, he must have at least
three wives (Dogherty, 2003, as cited in
Hamilton, 2014), and the only way a woman
can enter the Celestial Kingdom is through
the grace of her husband. It is only recently
that CSA charges have been brought against
the leader, Warren Jeffs, who is currently
serving a life sentence in a Texas jail for child
abuse. Jeffs has 86 wives, one of whom was
12 years old when he married her. Despite his
incarceration, Jeffs continues to lead from his
prison cell. Nevertheless, recently there has
been some pressure brought to bear on the
polygamous groups. Members have been
sued for food stamp fraud (Kent, 2011), and
the police force in the town staffed by the
FLDS has been investigated. Marci
Hamilton, an attorney who has specialized in
the polygamous Mormon groups, writes of
the consequences of their practices:
When underage girls are forced into
marrying much older men in these
communities, they are taken out of
school, deprived of any means of
future earning or self-support, and
burdened with the expectation of
bearing as many children as possible.
(p. 109)
Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints
The state of Utah was founded by Mormon
pioneers. In order to join the union and
become a state, they had to give up their
illegal practice of polygamy. Members who
continued the practice were excommunicated
and formed their own community, known as
the Fundamentalist Latter-Days Saints. The
group became isolated and led by controlling,
authoritarian, abusive leaders. The group
continued for decades. At the time of this
writing, the community is dissolving and
struggling to redefine itself.
Large families come with large financial
burdens, often resulting in polygamous
husbands abandoning wives and children of
subsequent marriages. Home schooling is
provided by these women, who themselves
have limited education, effectively keeping
women subservient and men in control. They
are kept sequestered in the community by not
learning to drive or by having to share
vehicles.
The FLDS also engages in human trafficking
as it shuffles underage girls between Canada
and the United States for sexual purposes
under the banner of “marriage” (Kent, 2006
Krugel, 2017). The Blackmore family, an
FLDS group in Bountiful, Canada, is
notorious for this practice. Young girls are
given to men by the prophet, often as
rewards, or are added to the leader’s own
harem of wives (Bramham, 2016). Pleas and
protests are silenced, if voiced at all, because
girls have been socialized from birth to
believe that “marriages were arranged
through a revelation from God and ...
delivered through [the] prophet who was the
Lord’s mouthpiece on earth” (Wall, 2008, p.
1). Mothers socialize their daughters to “keep
sweet,” to be compliant, and to fulfill their
roles. Incestuous relationships abound, with
sisters marrying the same man, first cousins
marrying each other, and nieces marrying
their uncles. This abuse, including forced
religious sovereignty was being questioned
due to allegations of child sexual abuse
(CSA) and the rights of women.
A case in point is the FLDS, a powerful
splinter group of the Mormon religion (see
“Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints).
Concentrated in Arizona and Utah with
another large satellite group in Bountiful,
British Columbia, Canada, and several
smaller known outposts in Mexico, FLDS
holds polygamy to be its religious right, the
will of God, marrying underage girls to men
often two or three times their age. The
rationale for polygamy is that for a man to
enter the highest level of heaven, known as
the Celestial Kingdom, he must have at least
three wives (Dogherty, 2003, as cited in
Hamilton, 2014), and the only way a woman
can enter the Celestial Kingdom is through
the grace of her husband. It is only recently
that CSA charges have been brought against
the leader, Warren Jeffs, who is currently
serving a life sentence in a Texas jail for child
abuse. Jeffs has 86 wives, one of whom was
12 years old when he married her. Despite his
incarceration, Jeffs continues to lead from his
prison cell. Nevertheless, recently there has
been some pressure brought to bear on the
polygamous groups. Members have been
sued for food stamp fraud (Kent, 2011), and
the police force in the town staffed by the
FLDS has been investigated. Marci
Hamilton, an attorney who has specialized in
the polygamous Mormon groups, writes of
the consequences of their practices:
When underage girls are forced into
marrying much older men in these
communities, they are taken out of
school, deprived of any means of
future earning or self-support, and
burdened with the expectation of
bearing as many children as possible.
(p. 109)
Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints
The state of Utah was founded by Mormon
pioneers. In order to join the union and
become a state, they had to give up their
illegal practice of polygamy. Members who
continued the practice were excommunicated
and formed their own community, known as
the Fundamentalist Latter-Days Saints. The
group became isolated and led by controlling,
authoritarian, abusive leaders. The group
continued for decades. At the time of this
writing, the community is dissolving and
struggling to redefine itself.
Large families come with large financial
burdens, often resulting in polygamous
husbands abandoning wives and children of
subsequent marriages. Home schooling is
provided by these women, who themselves
have limited education, effectively keeping
women subservient and men in control. They
are kept sequestered in the community by not
learning to drive or by having to share
vehicles.
The FLDS also engages in human trafficking
as it shuffles underage girls between Canada
and the United States for sexual purposes
under the banner of “marriage” (Kent, 2006
Krugel, 2017). The Blackmore family, an
FLDS group in Bountiful, Canada, is
notorious for this practice. Young girls are
given to men by the prophet, often as
rewards, or are added to the leader’s own
harem of wives (Bramham, 2016). Pleas and
protests are silenced, if voiced at all, because
girls have been socialized from birth to
believe that “marriages were arranged
through a revelation from God and ...
delivered through [the] prophet who was the
Lord’s mouthpiece on earth” (Wall, 2008, p.
1). Mothers socialize their daughters to “keep
sweet,” to be compliant, and to fulfill their
roles. Incestuous relationships abound, with
sisters marrying the same man, first cousins
marrying each other, and nieces marrying
their uncles. This abuse, including forced
