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.
Just before Christmas the Government released its ten-year strategy to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG). Finally recognising VAWG as a national emergency, the headlines are clear. Sustained commitment is required to tackle the deep-rooted societal factors which perpetrate abuse. Key to the strategy is prevention, support for victims, a relentless pursuit of the perpetrators as well as societal accountability. As Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, states, “Violence against women and girls is everyone’s business”.
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This statement has always been true and as a church, this statement is built into our gospel DNA. We can turn to the Old Testament and see the multiple occasions in which violence against women is not shied away from. From the unnamed concubine in Judges, to Tamar and Bathsheba, God hears them and their very bodies cry out for justice.
In the New Testament, Jesus is uncompromising in his attitude towards women.
In the New Testament, Jesus is uncompromising in his attitude towards women. In John 8:1-11, he essentially disarms a religious mob, preventing the stoning of a woman caught in adultery and challenging the double standards of the day, the man conspicuous by his absence. These accounts are confronting and visible and declare that freedom from oppression and injustice are central to the good news of the gospel. But there is nothing passive about justice and we are instructed in Isaiah (1:17) to be intentional; “Learn to do right, seek justice”. It’s a call to be active.
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The fact that more than 150 women are killed by men every year, that 1 in 8 women experienced some form of abuse last year, and that 39% of young girls aged 13-17 have experienced abuse within a relationship should break our hearts and motivate us to action.
The fact that more than 150 women are killed by men every year, that 1 in 8 women experienced some form of abuse last year, and that 39% of young girls aged 13-17 have experienced abuse within a relationship should break our hearts and motivate us to action. The government strategy states that boys and young men will be targeted with initiatives aimed at dismantling the societal misogyny which drives VAWG. Leaving this solely to schools and local authorities however would be negligent of our Christ-like responsibility.
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Where boys are in our youth groups and Sunday schools and where young men attend churches in increasing numbers due to the so called ‘quiet revival’, we need to make the most of those opportunities. But we also need to ask ourselves hard questions about what messaging those young men will hear and is it any different to the messaging they hear in the world about the value of women.
But even with all the times the church has tripped over its own feet, when leaders haven’t confronted systemic abuse or shown real accountability and sacrificial love, I still genuinely believe the church holds the answer. The reason for this is that I am also convinced that the gospel of Jesus, the good news, is the ultimate answer. We are meant to be a light in this world (Matt 5:14) and for this reason I welcome the new strategy because it does just that, it shines a light on the intentionality and commitment needed to make a difference and as a church we cannot shy away from the difficult questions it poses or imagine that it is a worldly problem with worldly solutions. Halving VAWG is not enough and while we know we won’t see full eradication until the new heaven, in the meantime we can speak up, advocate, petition, run programmes, teach, lead and of course, without ceasing, pray.
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