Do we need a #MeToo movement for women in the Church?

Woman Alive editor Tola-Doll Fisher shares her personal experience of abuse in the Church and says we need to ask some hard questions about our culture.

I wish I could say I was shocked at the recent spate of sexual and spiritual abuse allegations against men in leadership in the Church. I’m not. This is nothing new, and when we hear reports of leaders who have been abusive, we sigh or we point fingers at the individual and we ask why nothing was done at the time… and then they quit or are acquitted; another story breaks and we go on with our lives. Until the next time.

When I was 20, I joined a new church which focused heavily on spiritual warfare and atoning for ancestral sins. Newly reeling from the shame of pre-marital sex leading to an abortion at 18, my desire to be absolved from sin led me to the mercy of anyone who claimed to be able to make me right with God. I did everything I was told – changed the way I dressed, cut off all my friends and dedicated almost all my time to the “church”.