It’s a girl!”

These words, announcing the arrival of new life, should be among the happiest on earth. Unfortunately, this is often the most dangerous phrase uttered across the globe — dangerous to the girl.

Violence perpetrated against women and girls simply because of their gender is a domestic and international issue with immense consequences. In the global, digital age in which we live, we can no longer turn a blind eye to this violence. Nor can we assume that such things happen elsewhere but could never happen to the women and girls we know.

As the church of Jesus Christ, we should recognize more than anyone the inherent worth and dignity of women. Scripture clearly states that God created women in His image (Genesis 1:26–28). As bearers of that image, when violence occurs against women because of their gender, it is an assault not only on humanity but also on the very image of God. It is an affront to God when his children suffer harm at the hands of others simply because they are female.

In her new book, Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women, Elaine Storkey describes the excruciating horrors of gender-based violence perpetuated worldwide. Violence against the unborn, as well as the infanticide and abandonment of baby girls, marks the beginning of this depravity, as cultures steeped in patriarchy place immense pressure on families (and specifically mothers, multiplying the trauma) to bear sons as a matter of status and earning potential for the family. This leads to drastic decisions that impact the lives of baby girls exponentially more than their male counterparts.

This is not the plan God had for women, but it is also not the plan God has for humanity. 

According to Storkey, the result is an unthinkable act of mass extermination. In India, where most abortion procedures are against the law, nearly two million gender-selective medical and self-induced abortions nevertheless take place annually. Many mothers in India who carry girls to full-term dispose of the newborns as refuse or leave them to die in the streets. While the exact figures are hard to come by, each year an estimated 25 million “missing” girls either die in abortions, become victims of infanticide, or mysteriously disappear at some point during childhood.

Globally, the low value and disposability of girls and women is evident in the cultural acceptance of sex-selective abortion and infanticide. The deaths of these innocents go largely unnoticed, unpunished and unmourned. Many of these procedures have existed for hundreds of years — and continue to spread with technological advancements that allow earlier detection of gender.

In addition to these brutalities, women in other contexts experience sexual abuse, domestic abuse and rape (particularly as acts of war and revolution). Countless women throughout the world suffer violence and abuse each day — often at the hands of family members and close intimate partners.

As I read Storkey’s text — which includes well-documented research, along with harrowing personal narratives of the incidents she chronicles — I often had to stop and weep. It is difficult to come face to face with these realities, even though they were not new to me. As a scholar, I have researched and studied cultural gender roles and biases against women. But as a mother of a young daughter, and a woman who has personally suffered from violence, the evidence presented here deeply grieved me.

This is not the plan God had for women, but it is also not the plan God has for humanity. It’s easy to dismiss these acts as things that happen in other places, among people of non-Christian traditions and religions. However, the account of former U.S. gymnast Rachael Denhollander and the hundreds of young women abused by their doctor, Larry Nassar, reminds us the problem exists in every nation and culture. The rise of the #MeToo movement has taken down the careers of powerful men like Harvey Weinstein and Steve Wynn. It also spawned a #ChurchToo movement, with women sharing stories of suffering emotional, physical and sexual abuse from church leaders — narratives their churches often dismissed or rejected, blaming the women instead of their abusers.

Governments have attempted to address through legislation the threats women face globally, from female genital mutilation, acid attacks and honor killings to rape, the most common form of violence against women. But legislation is not enough. We must also prioritize education and spiritual teaching.

As Christians, and especially as Pentecostals, we must be intentional about rejecting theologically incorrect teachings that promote patriarchal culture. We must speak up about emotional, physical and sexual violence and the affront such things are to God. But most of all, we must provide a harbor and a place of sanctuary where women and girls can find freedom. That means we must first believe them when they tell us someone violated them. Certainly, due process is vital to bringing perpetrators to justice, but silence is not spiritual. It is incumbent upon those of us who claim Christ — the One who elevated women’s personhood beyond the culture and religious structures of His day — to hear women’s stories and value their lives enough to offer them help, healing and protection.

We cannot claim God created women in His image and that in Christ there is no longer male nor female if we are unwilling to see the scars across humanity and respond with Christlike compassion to the suffering and oppressed.

While Storkey’s book is not for the faint of heart, I encourage pastors and leaders to read it and to open their eyes to the sin that may exist even in our own communities and churches — and then to share its message far and wide. Violence against women and girls is an epidemic, but it is one the Church can play a powerful role in eradicating if we are willing to hear and respond to the pleas of our sisters.

Book Reviewed