A few years ago I was attending a government meeting in my city on sexual violence. After two hours of discussion, with no real solutions, a woman stood up and in a passionate voice went on to tell her story. She was violently raped to the point where her back was broken. She continued to describe her health challenges and the injustice from our judicial system. Her story broke my heart, I wanted to weep for the inhuman treatment she had experienced but it wasn’t really appropriate at the time.
This reminds me of another woman’s story in the Bible that makes me want to weep. The Levite’s concubine (Judges 19 ). The couple were passing through the city of Gibeah and were taken in for the night by an old man. Their evening was interrupted by a mob of men bashing on the door, demanding that the old man give them the Levite man so they could rape him. He refused, but the mob were persistent. Eventually, the Levite grabbed his concubine and threw her out the door to the mob. They spent the night raping and abusing her. The Levite showed no concern for her, and in the morning he found her lying on the doorstep. He took her home cut her body up and sent a piece to the tribes of Israel. (You may now weep)
“Violence against women is a global pandemic. Virtually every minute of every day, there are incidents, somewhere of abuse, rape, honour killings, sexual violence, acid attacks, bride burning, mutilation and women being trafficked” (Quote from Scars Across Humanity).
Judges 19 ends with a statement from those who received a part of the concubine’s body. “Such a horrible crime has never been committed in all the time since Israel left Egypt. Think about it. What are we going to do? Who is going to speak up?”
These questions are so applicable to us as individuals & to the church in every city across the world today. This is our responsibility! Darkness prevails because we are silent. To continue with our church meetings, conferences, gatherings, etc without addressing the oppression in our cities, getting our hands dirty, sacrificing our comforts, and working in unity, is nothing short of religious activity (dare I say).
We must speak about abuse & porn in our churches, in our families & in our communities.
Will you speak?