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Gender-based violence in Jewish and Christian religious traditions

Submitted to Program Units
1: Women and Religion Unit

Tracy McEwan, University of Newcastle, Australia, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Evidence from research studies and public inquiries have drawn attention to historical and current practices of gender-based violence (GBV) in religious institutions, particularly Christianity. Research findings indicate the harm such violence is causing to victims and communities, but as yet stronger links between the ways in which sacred texts and religious law are implicated in the generation and legitimation of gendered violence is limited. This panel will bring together four scholars to discuss their research into gender-based religious and spiritual harm in Jewish and Christian traditions. Different methodological approaches are utilized and aim to examine the ways that religious law, biblical texts and theological discourse function to produce, sustain and compound gendered violence across religious communities, and how feminist discourse can be used to disrupt dominant paradigms. Examples from religious traditions in the US, UK, Africa and Australia include Catholicism, Anglicanism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and orthodox Jewish communities.

Papers

  • Naomi R. Goldenberg, University of Ottawa

    Metzitzah B’eh and The Magic of Religion: How the category of religion transforms a criminal practice endangering Jewish male infants into legalized ritual.

    Abstract

    This paper will argue that when a sovereign state recognizes a group as a religion, the laws and customs of the group acquire a special status. This status can enable the ‘religious’ group to escape prosecution for behaviour that would otherwise be deemed criminal. Metzitzah B’peh, or oral suction, provides a dramatic example. Efforts to forbid this act that has caused the death of some babies and inflicted brain damage on others, met with failure in New York City. Orthodox Jewish communities effectively argued that former Mayor Bloomberg, who wanted the practice banned, had to respect religious freedom even though oral suction can be considered a form of high-risk sexual assault on male infants by adult men. Presently, the practice continues with no required restrictions beyond tepid warnings to Jewish parents. This paper examines how such a practice is legitimated by local authorities.

  • Kathleen McPhillips, University of Newcastle, Australia

    The uses of biblical texts in the sexual abuse of children in Jehovah’s Witnesses: how gendered violence operated to protect male authority.

    Abstract

    Over the last 20 years, multiple public inquiries across the world have investigated the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults in religious institutions. Two inquiries – the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual abuse and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual abuse in England and Wales - examined smaller religious groups including the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Findings indicate that biblical texts were used extensively in managing complaints of abuse and of perpetrators, compliance with silence and safeguarding policy. The gendered base of this process, from the interpretation of scripture by male leaders, to the management by men of the investigation processes indicate that gendered violence against women and girls was significant. This presentation will examine the gendered use of biblical texts in managing abuse and implementing the recommendations from both inquiries and ascertain the ways in which biblical texts are currently being employed with regard to gender equity.

  • David Tombs, University of Otago, New Zealand

    ‘Shut up till the day of their death’: Sacred Text as Secondary Victimisation in 2 Samuel 20:3.

    Abstract

    2 Samuel 20:3 is a devastating denouement to a biblical story of sexual and gender-based violence. It states the fate of the ten concubines David left to ‘look after the house’ in Jerusalem when David and the rest of his household fled to escape his son Absalom (2 Sam. 15.16). Absalom then captured Jerusalem and publicly raped the ten women to demonstrate his power (2 Sam. 16.21-22). When David returned to Jerusalem, he ordered that the women be ‘shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood’ (2 Sam. 20:3). This presentation (1) critically examines the troubling assumptions behind David’s response; (2) describes a contextual bible study that explores 2 Sam. 20:3 as secondary victimisation, and (3) discusses some of the responses and insights on the bible study from the Kuibuka (Arise) workshop for religious sisters in Ghana in 2024.

  • Rocio Figueroa, Te Kupenga – Catholic Theological College

    Kuibuka: A program for religious sisters in Africa to become agents of change against violence

    Abstract

    Sexual and spiritual abuse of and by Catholic religious sisters has been documented since the 1990s but has received only minimal response from the Church, and little attention in the media or in academic research. Kuibuka Africa is an initiative that responds to the harm inflicted, enabled, and silenced in many religious women’s congregations. Kuibika runs workshops on trauma and abuse, and the need for effective pastoral response. Women religious share their experiences of abuse and interrogate the patriarchal narratives and theological foundations that enable violence and silence women’s voices. A pilot workshop in January 2023 welcomed thirty sisters from Central Africa. A second workshop involved forty religious superiors from West Africa in January 2024. The workshops empower women religious to resist injustice and institutional violence and become agents of change. Many participants have used workshop material in their local communities to help in safeguarding their own sisters.

Responding
Boyung Lee, Iliff School of Theology

Business Meeting
Tracy McEwan, University of Newcastle, Australia, Presiding
Boyung Lee, Iliff School of Theology, Presiding
Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen
Play Audio from Laptop Computer
Podium microphone

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

2 Hours
Schedule Info

Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Tags

gender based violence
# women and gender
# religious violence

Session Identifier

A25-233