Take Action: Looking through the cross at violence against women

by Christine Housel, World Student Christian Federation

A genuinely Christian perspective is against all forms of violence against women. Christianity proclaims a God who is defined by love and who wants to be personally involved in helping women and men become whole people in societies marked by justice with peace. Violence against women works exactly against this goal. When a husband believes he can demand sex from his wife; or a woman is gossiped about or shamed in the community when she reveals that her boyfriend or husband is abusing her; or a girl is deprived an education in favor of a boy; or a woman is denied in a thousand large and small ways the possibility of developing her full potential and personhood—it is violence against the dignity of women.When any of these actions are linked somehow with God, they can be even more devastating.

In the first pages of the Bible we see God created men and women both in God’s image with inherent value and with the capacity to create, reason and love (1). Jesus treated women with kindness and respect. In a context where women were not valued as highly as men and did not have the same rights as men, Jesus defended women, healed women, and developed friendships with women, even women outcast in their society (2). At a time when a woman’s testimony was not considered valid, Jesus chose to appear first to women after his resurrection (3).

Thinking theologically about the real issues of life allows us to ask and articulate how faith can make a difference. It allows us to ask questions about interpretations of the Bible that seem to limit women. It allows us to find new ways of relating the biblical texts to our current experiences and needs.

One strong example of a new reading and application of a familiar text is the Tamar Campaign, whose aim is to mobilise and sensitise girls, women, men, media, faith organisations, religious institutions and others to say no to rape and domestic violence. It is centered around a Bible study of the story of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13:1-22. Tamar, David’s daugther, was raped by Ammon, her half brother. A symbol of violence against women, Tamar was not only abused but also courageously spoke out against her abuse. Her powerful act can encourage other women to speak out against abuse.

Evidence shows violence against women damages not only the individual women but the whole society. HIV and AIDS spreads when women do not have the education or freedom to make informed choices about sexuality or are coerced sexually. And when men are perpetrating or allowing violence against women, knowingly or unknowingly, neither men nor women are living as they are created to be—in wholeness and mutuality. The church and Christians are called to speak out against all forms of violence against women, even and especially when we find it in our own communities, proclaiming through our actions that violence is unequivocably unacceptable and that the God of lovingkindness is in our midst ready to heal and restore.