Zimbabwean Christian oppression of girls

This video from Canada says about itself:

TMTV News Nelson BC Canada – Raw Video – TMTV visits Winston Blackmore in Bountiful BC from the TMTV Vault

Jan 7, 2009 – Charges laid against B.C. polygamist leaders – Two leaders in the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., near Creston in south eastern BC have been charged with practising polygamy under the Criminal Code.

Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, were arrested by RCMP on Tuesday, Attorney General Wally Oppal said at a news conference Wednesday. Oler is the bishop of the, while Blackmore is the former FLDS bishop who was ousted in 2002 after a power struggle with the sect’s prophet Warren Jeffs.

The two men were to appear in court Wednesday after an “intensive” seven-month investigation, Oppal said.

“Mr. Blackmore it is alleged that he has committed polygamy with approximately 20 people,” Oppal said. “And as far as Oler is concerned it is alleged that he has committed polygamy with two women.”

Blackmore has been charged with “practising polygamy” on May 1, 2005 and Oler has been charged with the same crime on Nov. 1, 2004, according to provincial court files.

“I am pleased a prosecution will be proceeding, as it will provide legal clarity as to the constitutionality of section 293 of the Criminal Code (concerning polygamy),” Oppal said in a statement.

News of the charges was welcomed by Audrey Vance, co-chair of Altering Destiny Through Education, which is based in Creston, B.C., not far from Bountiful.

Vance has lobbied for charges against Bountiful residents.

“We all know this is a cult and we have to do something to address this because in Canada women do have equal rights,” she said in an interview Wednesday.

Blackmore, who has had 26 wives and more than 100 children, is outspoken in his belief that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects his religious practice of polygamy – a tenet that was set out by Mormonism’s founder Joseph Smith, but was denounced by the mainstream church in 1890.

At a polygamy summit in 2006, Blackmore admitted that he had had “several” very young “wives” including one who was under 16. He repeated that when he was interviewed by CNN’s Larry King.

Blackmore lost his role as the Bountiful bishop after his disagreement with Jeffs, the church’s prophet who has been convicted of being an accomplice to the rape of a minor in Utah and is currently in jail in Arizona facing similar charges there. Jeffs and other senior FLDS members have also been charged in Texas with offences related to the so-called “spiritual marriages” to under-aged girls.

Blackmore now leads a breakaway group that lives in the southeastern corner of B.C. and is the head of the Mormon Hills School Society, which runs a government-funded, independent school.

Over the years, Blackmore amassed a multi-million-dollar business empire that included a post-and-pole company, logging operations and a large farm.

Little is known about Oler, a mechanic. He has never spoken to the media and there are few photos of him. However, people within the community have confirmed that Oler has at least three wives, several of whom were in their teens when they were assigned to him in placement marriages by Jeffs.

From The Zimbabwe Standard (Harare) :

Zimbabwe: GCN in Drive to Stop Child Marriages

Lesley Moyo

26 September 2010

A campaign has been launched to protest against apostolic sect churches’ age old practice of marrying off young girls to elderly men.

The sects are notorious for oppressing women and girls under the guise of religion. Lately, they have frustrated government’s efforts to vaccinate all children against measles.

According to the Girl Child Network (GCN), a civic organisation whose mission is to shelter, educate and empower female victims, an estimated 8 000 girls have been forced into early marriages or were held as sex slaves since 2008.

Betty Makoni the GCN founder, recently launched a massive appeal on behalf of one of the members of the Johane Marange church in rural Murewa. It is reported that a girl aged 13 was recently rescued from a man, aged 50 who has five other wives.

Her 12-year-old sister will also be given to a 57-year-old man who has more than six wives. In an interview this week, Makoni confirmed that she has initiated a protest against the church’s practices. “The number of appeals coming to my attention has significantly increased and I join the world in demanding that all underage girls and even some women be set free.

“I know that this has devastated the lives of girls in Zimbabwe and the government must set up a commission of enquiry,” she said. “Child rape is a serious crime globally and men found forcing girls to marry them should be jailed. “But the task ahead is huge as it is almost every man in the church who married an underage girl.”

A man from the Johane Marange church who spoke on condition that he is not named for fear of being excommunicated said it will take a lot of advocacy for the church to change this practice. “Our church believes in polygamy and even the President (Robert Mugabe) in one of his addresses to the apostolic church said there is nothing wrong with polygamy.

“It is common practice for young girls to be married off to older men. “In church we sit in an orderly manner, the men sit on their own followed by the women then young girls and boys. “This often makes it easy for the men to pick out from the group the girl they want to marry,” he said.

“A girl can be married as early as eight years old but the husband is only allowed to have sex with her when she reaches 12 years old. “The reason why it is rampant is that most of these men hide behind prophecies. “They usually abuse their position as prophets to hand-pick girls for the elderly men in the church who already have other wives.”

These churches are often criticised for their numerous unorthodox practices such as teenage marriages, polygamy and refusal to have their children immunised or taken to hospital for any treatment. Sect members maintain that their religion forbids the use of modern medicine and health science, preferring a strong faith in the healing powers of Jesus Christ instead.

Over the years their children have been withdrawn from formal education, which again is taboo according to their religion. One of the Johane Marange activists has reportedly threatened the exiled Makoni with unspecified action following the launch of the campaign.

“I am out of this debate but I promise you we will fire back,” said the activist in a message posted on Betty Makoni facebook page. This is not the first time Makoni has been threatened by alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

In September 2007, a senior police officer in the Law and Order section who is also a senior member of the Johane Marange church allegedly organised the arrest of Makoni. This was after she had rescued a 10-year-old girl who had been given to a 40-year-old man in Bocha in Manicaland province.

The church has over the years been tainted by shocking sexual abuse cases when it is supposed to be an institution that upholds moral values. The Roman Catholic Church has also been smeared by cases of sexual abuses perpetrated by priests.

Pressure mounts on Zimbabwe Government to arrest senior businessman 4 raping 11 year old girl at gun point: here.