Church called to support persecuted women
The Church worldwide must break the cycle of shame that forces persecuted Christian women to keep silent, academics and activists from 23 nations have been told.
The Leuven Consultation, staged in Belgium (June 1–3), heard that 215 million Christians are experiencing ‘high, very high or extreme persecution’ in more than 50 countries, with women suffering disproportionately.
Release International’s Kate Ward, an organiser of Christian Women Under Pressure for their Faith, said: “These women are being targeted for two reasons – because they are Christians and because they are women.
Highlighting the nature of the problem she continued: “In Nigeria, Christian girls are being abducted and impregnated by Boko Haram.
“In Egypt, extremists are paying men to abduct women, force them into marriage and convert them to Islam.
“And in Pakistan, women are being kidnapped, raped and forced to change their religion.
”Women’s bodies are being used as weapons of war against their own communities.
“Along with sexual attack comes shame – and shame forces women into silence.
“We call on the Church to listen to these persecuted Christian women in a new way – to learn to listen radically to break the cycle of shame and silence.
“Women make up more than half the church,” Kate stressed. “They are doubly vulnerable to discrimination and violence. Yet, all too often, their voices are not heard; they are silent.’
Another of the conference speakers was North Korean refugee, Mrs Haeyoung Park (pictured), whose Christian parents were killed by the state.
She told of what happened when a woman was caught praying in a North Korean prison camp.
“A prisoner reported to the guard that she had been praying. So the guard took her to the investigation room and tortured her. They hanged her upside down, burnt her with fire, cut her legs and beat her. And that’s how she died.”
The conference also heard that entire Christian families – men, women and children – are being killed in North Korean prison camps resembling concentration camps – complete with gas chambers.
Eighty per cent of those who try to flee North Korea are women. Some are Christians escaping persecution, others have become Christians on the journey.
But many fall prey to traffickers and are forced into sexual slavery in China, before escaping and making their way to South Korea.
And in Egypt and Pakistan, young girls are being abducted and forced to convert to Islam.
Katherine Sapna (pictured right), Director of the Pakistan NGO, Christians’ True Spirit which supports the Christian families of kidnap victims, told of 12–year–old Naina from Lahore who was abducted by Muslims because she was a Christian.
“She was held for six months, gang–raped by four men and tortured severely. She was burnt in the body and her sensitive body parts were damaged. She had two abortions because of the rape.
”Another girl, Shazia, was kidnapped from a small village of Kasur and taken to Karachi by Muslims who tried to force to work as a prostitute. When she refused to do this job, acid was thrown down her throat and her stomach was destroyed.
“She has suffered major trauma and we are trying to help her become a normal person.”
Often girls who are brought back to their communities after being abducted face shame and discrimination because they have been violated.
In a culture of honour and shame, entire families can find themselves can find themselves being ostracised by the communities who should be best placed to support them.
This, in turn, drives victims of rape and kidnap to suffer in silence.
Ms Sapna said Christian women in Pakistan are the most vulnerable members of their society. Under Sharia Law the legal evidence of women is worth only half that of a man. And in certain cases, the evidence of a Christian is worth just half that of a Muslim.
This can leave the non–Muslim woman without a means of defence in court. And where you get the intersection of gender discrimination and persecution, gender–restrictive laws can be absolutely lethal to women.
“Persecution can range from the dramatic to the dull, from the weaponisation of women’s bodies to the mundane daily pressure of discrimination,” said Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Dr Susan Kerr (pictured right).
”Women can face many different types of discrimination due to their faith. This can vary from exclusion and segregation in different spheres of public life, to so–called honour killings – murder – because of who they are and what they believe.
“It can include dowry deaths or acid killings, just because they are women of a particular religion.
”We see the weaponisation of the woman’s body as a means of sending a message to a religious community.
“Why did Boko Haram kidnap young girls in Nigeria?” was the rhetorical question to which Dr. Kerr went on to provide the answer by saying: “The violence perpetrated against those girls was a message to send fear to their community.”
Conference co–organiser, Open Doors International’s Helene Fisher, said: “The vulnerability of Christian women is being deliberately exploited to maximise the damage to the entire church.
”But as Christians we have an extra path, which is to say, ‘I am here listening to you as your sister in Christ, who loves you and cares for you and wants to know how to come alongside you’.
She continued: “And when we establish that link, hearts open, because we are in that ultimate trust relationship, which is sitting
She continued: “And when we establish that link, hearts open, because we are in that ultimate trust relationship, which is sitting as sisters together before our heavenly father, and we are covered by his protection.”
The Leuven Consultation followed last year’s Marcham Conference in Oxford where evidence that many Christian women face double discrimination, because of their faith and gender was presented.
Kate Ward said: “The message this year is that we must refuse to accept discrimination as a woman’s lot in life.
“It’s all too easy just to shrug and accept these cultural differences, to walk away and leave these women marginalised and alone.
”We will be producing a call to the global Church, a call to find new ways of listening to Christian women who have been driven to silence.’
Endorsing that message, Paul Robinson, the CEO of Release International. said: “We must make sure we don’t just listen to the men.
“Let’s make sure there are protected places, safe places for the women–only voice, so that we can hear them more fully and give them the value they deserve.
”Only by learning to listen can we encourage these persecuted Christian women to speak out and break the cycle of shame. And only then can they be fully healed and restored in Christ.”