Some say polygamy is a victimless crime, yet statistics show the contrary. Statistics show that polygamous wives reported that their husbands started becoming abusive towards them and/or their children once that wife started questioning the husband's absolute authority. Many women stay in these bad situations, because of their children. They do not want their children growing up without a father in their lives. However, once the husband starts abusing the children, then the wives feel that things have gone too far and they finally decide to break away, but not at all for the women's sake but for her children instead. .
Many debates are centered on women's rights and the potential for abuse in a polygamous marriage. Tapestry of Polygamy, an anti-polygamy group that is made up of women who used to be married to polygamists, maintain that polygamy makes victims out of women and puts children in harm's way. It was founded in 1998 and the group was named for the pattern their stories create when woven together. The majority of their work is counseling men and women that want to leave polygamous marriages, and they also push for enforcements of Utah's laws that ban polygamy. Within the last year, more than three hundred women followed the example of the former polygamist wives in the Tapestry, and left their plural marriage. The organization receives over two dozen calls from women and even some men who need someone to talk to about their polygamist religion. The Tapestry of Polygamy states that, "polygamy is the biggest con in the world; men are in it for sex, not religion." Polygamy also means poverty, because there are so many children in the family, and the husband often does not hold a job. The husband has no reason to hold a job. This is because many of these husbands are spending each day of the week with a different wife and children. They stay the night with the wife so they do not have to pay rent.