Polygamy usually takes the form of polygyny – when a man marries multiple women. Polyandry, which refers to wives having more than one husband, is even rarer than polygamy and mostly documented among small and relatively isolated communities around the world. While polygamy laws are usually skewed in favor of allowing men – but not women – to take multiple spouses, many countries’ laws also speak to the rights of women. In Burkina Faso, for example, where polygamy is common, spouses must agree that a marriage will be polygamous at its outset for the husband to be allowed to take another wife in the future. In Djibouti, a judge records the existing wives’ opinions on any new marriages and investigates the husband’s socioeconomic situation before approving a marriage contract with an additional wife.
