It seems to me very difficult to calculate this number (I have sent an e-mail to the statistics office
and will share with the list anything i find out), because of what Jabou mentions--a monogamous
marriage can always turn polygamous later on. If 95% of ALL marriages at any given time were
polygamous, the numbers just wouldn't compute when there are roughly the same number of
males and females--there simply wouldn't be enough women to go around. But if (as seems to be
the case) the woman tends to be significantly younger than the man, then there could be plenty
of polygamous marriages among older men, while lots of younger men have no wives at all.
I believe that in Senegal there is a legal provision whereby a bride can choose whether she
accepts that later on the husband will take another wife. Is there anything like that in The
Gambia?
Thanks again to all of you for being such a wonderful resource for learning more. Best always,
Ylva
On Sat, 28 Feb 2004, Jabou Joh wrote:
> You may very well be right about lower figures but as I mentioned, I was
> really just venturing a wild guess. I was under the impression that not marrying
> multiple wives is on the decline, but then I also find that people who have
> had one wife all along are marrying second wives later in their years.
> I wonder if there are actual statistics compiled by the Gambia government. It
> would be interesting to have actual figures compiled by regions if they have
> looked into such things.
>
> Jabou
>
> In a message dated 2/28/04 8:12:52 AM Central Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
> > I think that number is pretty high considering that younger generation are
> > doing away with Polygamy these days. I know of very few if any in their
> > twenties and thirties that have co-wives. I dont know about the people living in
> > the provinces but I dont think Polygamy is practiced much in the Greater
> > Banjul area any more. I might be wrong...
> >
> > Ya-i-Mam Fatou
> >
> >
> >
> > >From: Jabou Joh
> > >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> > >To: [log in to unmask]
> > >Subject: Re: question
> > >Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 16:05:09 EST
> > >
> > >Ylva,
> > >
> > >This is not any official statistic but my assesment would be at least 95%
> > of
> > >all the islamic marriages are polygamous.
> > >
> > >Jabou
> > >
> > >In a message dated 2/27/04 1:44:13 PM Central Standard Time,
> > >[log in to unmask] writes:
> > >
> > >
> > > > Greetings,
> > > >
> > > > Would anyone happen to know what percentage of marriages in The Gambia
> > are
> > > > polygamous? Best, Ylva
> > > >
>
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