c. 2000 Religion News Service

CAPE COD, Mass. _ The World Evangelical Federation’s (WEF) Task Force on Abuse Against Women is one step closer to bringing international attention to the “tragedy” of sexual trafficking and other violence against women.

The 20-member group met Jan. 29-30 to consolidate research findings and finalize a theological declaration that will be presented to the WEF at its General Assembly meeting in Malaysia in May 2001.

“We affirm the validity of the Bible’s message proclaiming the dignity and freedom of women,” says a resolution passed by the task force, “We affirm the teaching of Christian Scriptures that requires respect for women’s bodies as well as their souls.”

The resolution also recommends the formation of “international partnerships to end the scourge of sexual trafficking,” which the group says is rampant in countries around the world, particularly in some Asian countries.

“Every day, girls in Asian countries are abducted, coerced or seduced into sexual slavery,” said Olly Mesach, who is a task force member from Indonesia.

The group aims to publish a book of statistical data and theological resources that will document the problem of abuse against women and will offer possible solutions.

Sociological research indicates that as many as one in three women worldwide have been beaten, raped or otherwise abused. A recent report from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health said that despite the widespread abuse, as many as 70 percent of the women interviewed had never reported their suffering.

A lack of communication is also a problem within evangelical church communities, and the task force says that abuse can even come from within the church world.

Data compiled by the task force in India suggests that the rate of spousal abuse within the evangelical community is as high as 75 percent.

Catherine Kroeger, a classics scholar and task force member who hosted the weekend meeting, says that the evangelical community has been silent for too long on the reality of violence against women, instead focusing their efforts on other hot-button issues such as abortion.

“Will they do anything for women or their children? They will for the child that’s unborn, but they won’t if that unborn child is being abused in the womb.”

But there is hunger in the church community for new activism on the issue of abuse against women and girls.

Kroeger recalls that at the most recent bi-annual General Assembly meeting, an African woman stood and said, “When is the WEF going to address the violence against women? There are men in this room who are abusing their wives.” The woman received a standing ovation, Kroeger says.

“I think they’re starting to acknowledge that this is an issue that we need to be involved with,” says Margaret Jacobs, the chairwoman of the Commission on Women’s Concerns for the WEF’s South Pacific region.

Heightened interest in the topic was evident at the weekend meeting, where a service at a local Baptist church drew an overflow crowd, earning “a very positive response from people we didn’t expect,” according to Kroeger.

Jacobs adds that the task force members, all of whom were in attendance at the meeting, represent all eight regions of the WEF, including Indonesia, Latin America, India, Europe, and Bulgaria. The representatives will meet again in four months to consider more statistical information that is being gathered around the world.

Once the data is disseminated and the problem is better understood by the evangelical community, the task force plans to recommend “simple steps” that churches can take to combat the alarming rate of abuse.

“Find the local women’s shelter in your community, have a member of that shelter come and address your congregation, and publish (the speech) in your newsletter,” says Winnie Bartel, chairwoman of the WEF Commission on Women’s Concerns.

In addition, Bartel encourages churches to post shelter phone numbers in women’s restrooms, to preach sermons on the topic and to form a network of resources from organizations ranging from Campus Crusade for Christ to Christian Women Communicating, International.

The task force is developing a litany that churches can incorporate into their worship services, as well as a theological treatise on the biblical teachings on abuse and marriage.

Kroeger identifies a “theological trap” that includes concepts such as a prohibition against divorce, an insistence that the man is the head of his household and the teaching that women must submit to their husbands. She said these ideas have prevented evangelicals from understanding their own scriptural mandates to refrain from abusing their spouses.

“Submit,” for example, can translate as “be loyal,” “attach,” or “associate with,” Kroeger says, but evangelicals have become too entrenched in their theology to examine it more deeply.

“They’re afraid of rocking their theological boat rather than saying, let’s look at what the Bible says,” she says.

DEA END LEBOWITZ