Chapter 5: Real Issues Impacting Gender and Theology
The Church is not immune from issues of violence and abuse against women. Many women in the church suffer in silence. Unfortunately, the church has also remained silent about these issues. We can help break the church’s silence about issues related to violence against women. One empowering force which will stop the violence is knowledge; knowledge of resources and tools available to help clergy deal with these sensitive, personal and traumatic issues. Clergy and laity must compassionately respond to racism, sexism and violence within the Christian community. The confrontation and knowledge of these issues is vital to the body of Christ.
The facts…
- Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.
- Pregnant and recently pregnant women are more likely to be victims of homicide than to die of any other cause, and evidence exists that a significant proportion of all female homicide victims are killed by their intimate partners.
- About half of all female victims of intimate violence report an injury of some type, and about 20 percent of them seek medical assistance.
- Studies suggest that between 3.3 - 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.
- One in five (21 percent) women reported she had been raped or physically or sexually assaulted in her lifetime. Seventy-eight percent of stalking victims are women. Women are significantly more likely than men (60 percent and 30 percent, respectively) to be stalked by intimate partners.
—The Family Violence Prevention Fund