All Abuse articles
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OpinionI stayed silent because I thought God wanted me to: The hidden cost of faith and abuse
Christian author and educator Lucy D. Ola knows what it is like to wrestle with the tension between faith, marriage and abuse. Here, she shares how the belief that God wanted her to stay silent kept her in an abusive marriage – and how finding her voice helped her begin to rebuild her life.
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OpinionI was a Christian clinical psychologist – but it was a client who taught me about forgiveness
Retired clinical psychologist Katherine O’Neill explores what true forgiveness can look like after abuse – and how one client’s journey challenged her understanding of what it means to let go. Through Millie’s story, she discovers that forgiveness is not about excusing what happened, but about finding freedom from the shame and self-blame left behind.
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OpinionNarcissism or just sin? Why we’re overusing a psychological label
Anna Fothergill examines our culture’s growing tendency to label difficult people as “narcissists,” questioning whether ordinary selfishness is too often mistaken for psychological disorder. Blending personal experience with a Christian perspective, she reflects on the difference between clinical narcissism and the universal problem of human sin.
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OpinionChannel 4’s Married at First Sight has allegedly enabled abuse. Is Christian culture any better?
Sally Hope asks whether Christians should really be shocked by allegations that Married at First Sight has allegedly enabled abuse. If the Church also creates cultures where coercion, purity pressure, and harmful teaching flourish, then Christians must ask whether our own culture is truly any better.
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Opinion“I discovered my husband had abused our daughter”: One mother’s journey from trauma to healing
A Woman Alive reader shares her journey of surviving abuse as a child and the devastating discovery that her now ex-husband had also abused their daughter. She now supports others affected by abuse, offering hope, faith, and the reminder that healing is possible with God.
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OpinionFaith, justice and the call to end violence against women and girls
Writer Michelle Tant responds to the Government’s new ten-year strategy on violence against women and girls, welcoming its recognition of VAWG as a national emergency. She argues that this moment calls the church to active, gospel-rooted responsibility in seeking justice and protecting women and girls.
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ArticleMy father, John Smyth - ‘I had no doubts that what he’d done was wrong and awful’
Fiona Rugg’s father, John Smyth QC, was accused of decades-long physical, psychological and spiritual abuse of boys and young men in England and Zimbabwe but died in 2018 before any charges were brought. Justin Welby, former Archbishop of Canterbury, stepped down from his role in 2024 because of accusations from the Makin Report in relation to his knowledge of John Smyth’s abuse. Smyth’s children, PJ, Caroline and Fiona, appeared recently in a Channel 4 documentary See No Evil about their father. Fiona spoke with Jemimah Wright before the release of the documentary
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Opinion'I re-discovered hope in God after domestic abuse and now I want to help other women to do the same'
Writer Sally Hope shares her journey of rediscovering faith after escaping years of domestic abuse, finding in God a hope that no human being could provide. Now, through her Always Hopeful programme and her new book No Visible Scars, she seeks to walk alongside other women on the path to healing and renewed trust in God’s love.
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OpinionHow God saved my sister from a narcissist
After two years of prayer, our Woman Alive contributor witnessed God’s faithfulness in rescuing her sister from the grip of an abusive relationship.
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OpinionOne of the ways the Church can combat abuse is by considering its traditionally male hierarchy
‘Egalitarian leadership structures have been shown to combat the attitudes and beliefs that can lead to abuse, and to provide a protective factor when abuse does occur,’ argues Sally Hope.
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Opinion‘I survived satanic ritual abuse, this is how Jesus saved me’
A Woman Alive contributor shares her painful story of abuse from her parents as a young child, and how subsequently she was healed and restored by Jesus.
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OpinionFrom the infidelity ‘curse’ to alleged physical abuse, Strictly reveals our need for a Saviour
From the ‘Strictly Curse’ to recent allegations of bullying and abuse, will the UK’s favourite light-entertainment show be axed? Jemimah Wright takes a look at the twenty- year history of Strictly Come Dancing.
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OpinionGREAT SEXPECTATIONS: I did everything the right way but ended up with nothing. I feel so let down by God
In our fortnightly column ‘Great Sexpectations’ we answer your questions on sex, faith and intimacy. Drop us an email on womanalive@premier.org.uk and ask us anything. Here, we answer a lady whose painful circumstances have caused her to question God’s goodness
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OpinionGREAT SEXPECTATIONS: I had to leave my abusive marriage but now I feel really angry at God - why did he let that happen to me?
In our fortnightly column ‘Great Sexpectations’ the Woman Alive panel answer your questions on sex, faith and intimacy. Drop us a confidential email on womanalive@premier.org.uk and ask us anything. Here, we help a reader who is angry at God after leaving an abusive marriage.
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OpinionWhy safe housing is the best gift for sexually exploited women this Christmas
Charity co-director, Emma Goulds writes about the importance of a safe home for the women she works with this Christmas.
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ArticleAmplifying the voices of abused Ugandan women
From being a World Vision-sponsored child, living in poverty to gaining a theology certificate at Oxford University, Racheal Mutesi speaks with Jemimah Wright about her passion to be a voice for the horrendously abused women in her community
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OpinionI suffered abuse in the Church, but we mustn’t confuse the acts of Christians with the acts of Christ
Writer Hope Bonarcher shares her experience of abuse in the Church and how she turns to Jesus for her faith rather than the example of flawed people.
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OpinionI fought to free my persecuted husband from an Iranian prison but the distance showed me that I was the victim of his abuse
Naghmeh battled tirelessly to get her husband, who had been arrested for his Christian faith, released from an Iranian prison. But in the three and a half years he was away, God spoke to her about the abuse she had suffered at his hands.
