Anti-polygamists pan Utah leaders

Utah leaders have a long way to go if they want to assist women and children trapped in polygamous cultures, spokeswomen for an anti-polygamy group said Friday.

"When will the state come to the aid of Utah's children, and when will these polygamy predators be stopped?" Tapestry Against Polygamy executive director Vicki Prunty wrote in a letter to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.

Earlier this year, the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona released a manual to assist authorities to help people trying to escape a polygamous community.

Titled "The Primer — Helping Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities," the guide is designed to give service providers, such as social workers or physicians, insight into the issues at play when someone from a polygamous community seeks assistance.

But essential information is missing from that guide, Prunty said. "Important sections" such as cult awareness, psychological effects of polygamy and the correlation between polygamy, domestic violence and child abuse should be added to the guide, she said.

"The horrendous abuses within polygamy will be silenced away until the proper primer and training takes place," the letter says. "We hope you can be the catalyst that is needed for the victims within polygamous communities."

The guide can be obtained at www.attorneygeneral.utah.gov/polygamy.html.

The manual will be used in connection with the Safe Usage Program, a project funded by a $700,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant to help domestic violence victims from polygamous and rural communities in Utah and Arizona.

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