The lived experiences of women practicing polygamy in South Africa: a phenomenological study.

Abstract

In South Africa, polygamy has become increasingly prevalent across both urban and rural areas, practiced by various cultural and religious communities. The study explored the lived experiences of women in polygamous marriages. The aim was to understand the personal experiences of women in polygamous marriages in a society with the majority of women in monogamous marriages. Four women in polygamous marriages were invited to participate in the study and were interviewed. A phenomenological design was used to conduct the study and to understand the participants’ experiences of being a part of a polygamous family. The social construction theory was employed as a theoretical framework to underpin this study. The findings of this study revealed that the demographics of participants in a polygamous marriage are an important factor in determining whether a participant will marry into a polygamous marriage. The majority of the participants reported that they did not know that their husbands were practising polygamy before marriage. In addition to this, family background history was also found to be an important factor in this study, as most participants in the study revealed that they came from families that practiced polygamy. The psychosocial impact of polygamy was found to be experienced by the majority of participants in this study. Several health risks were also experienced by participants in this study. Participants of this study applied several coping skills to overcome the challenges that came with being in a polygamous marriage. Other experiences that the study found were limited economic support, the ill intentions of some participants entering the polygamous marriage, chores not equally shared, jealousy, an inability to bear children, and some reported issues of loneliness.