October is Domestic Violence Month

Have you ever heard a sermon about domestic violence preached in your local church? If you’re like me, you’ve never heard one. How could this be?

How could this issue be so ignored in the midst of horrifying statistics? According to a report issued in 2000 by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, one in four women during their lifetime experiences some level of abuse. In the United States, an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.

We delude ourselves if we think no women sitting in our pews on Sunday aren’t in situations where violence exists.

The majority (73%) of family violence victims is female. Females were 84% of spousal abuse victims and 86% of abuse victims at the hands of a boyfriend.

We delude ourselves if we think no women sitting in our pews on Sunday aren’t in situations where violence exists. And, yet, virtually nothing is ever said in our local churches about this horrible situation.

Take action

During October, you are urged to take action on this issue. I’ve included in this article some ideas found in the United Methodist resolution on “Violence Against Women and Children.” I hope they will inspire you to think about ways you and your church can speak out.

1. Create a church climate of openness, acceptance, and safety that encourages victims to speak of their pain and seek relief and healing.
2. Encourage all clergy and lay leaders to work collaboratively with community agencies on prevention strategies, and to provide for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of victims, offenders and other family members.
3. Adopt policy and procedures for keeping children and vulnerable adults safe from abuse in church facilities and programs.

   Adopt policy and procedures for keeping children and vulnerable adults safe from abuse in church facilities and programs.

4. Assess available prevention and response resources in the community and, where appropriate, initiate new programs and services; wherever possible, undertake new programs ecumenically or as part of a community coalition.
5. Set up peer support groups for battered spouses, for adults who were sexually abused as children, and for rape victims. (A trained resource person or professional counselor should be consulted for assistance in setting up peer support groups.)
6. Encourage church members to volunteer their services to existing shelters, crisis centers and other community services; insist upon training for volunteers.
7. Re-examine, and change if necessary, scriptural and theological messages, cultures and traditions that validate violence or abuse or support a view of women as subordinate to men or children as property of adults; pay particular attention to church teachings on repentance and forgiveness.
8. Maintain a library of printed and video resources on domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and the role of the church; develop a utilization plan.
9. Participate in Domestic Violence Awareness Month each October and Child Abuse Prevention Month each April in the United States, or similar emphases in other countries.
10. Urge clergy to preach on domestic violence and sexual abuse topics; urge congregants to host or cooperate in community education events and to highlight opportunities for involvement in prevention and service activities.

Also, you should promote the National Domestic Violence Hotline (800) 799-SAFE.

For additional resources, go to the Web sites of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and www.ncadv.org and FaithTrust Institute.