A Pandemic of silent violence! :

Book review 6: Scars Across Humanity

This is a truly formidable book. Combining fluency and academic rigour. It is both a page-turner and thoroughly research, with a new source referenced virtually every paragraph.

It’s aim: to mark out, in systemic phases of a females life, the breadth of violence against women. It achieves its ambitious scope.

Starting from conception it draws us to the female foetus, highlights gender-biased abortions (mainly spotlighting India and China) which leads to a population demographic lacking of women and fuels demand for more violence in the form of trafficking vulnerable women. We are then taken through growing girl who may experience FGM, forced marriage, then honour killings. Before entering adulthood: violence in the homes, trafficking and prostitution, rape, war and sexual violence.

It ends on 4 reflective chapters asking why there is so much gender based violence, exploring power and patriarchy, religion and gender and finally Christianity and gender. These chapters cover the academic arguments but does so with neither long words, that none of us understand, nor sentence structures that leave your mind in a muddle. No, I could follow the flow of argument, understand every sentence and read through it all quickly. It has a lovely flow and is eminently readable.

Time and again we are left facing the question: why do societies - yes every society - so favour men and assault women?

This may all seem somewhat heavy to read, but no-where near the immeasurable pain, trauma and torture of the victims and therefore we have a responsibility not to walk on by. We must educate ourselves. Partly because so much of this happens behind closed doors, in hush, silenced, covered. Justice, for every issue, seems so far away, the faint hope of the barely visible speck on the horizon!

In an effort to keep this blog short, I’ve listed a few (of the many) important stats and quotes at the bottom and leave you with a few final reflections:

When I had finished the book I felt like I had read a seminal text. I wanted everyone, as part of their civic duty, to read it. I wanted to press it into the hand of every Christian as vital to their formation and discipleship. And for every child to learn it as part of their curriculum, alongside climate change.

The scale, scope and depth of brutality against women on this planet is utterly ghastly (although those words, no words, even come close). We should all be made aware. It’s a pandemic of scars across our global humanity. I defy anyone to read it and not be both stirred, changed and motivated to act.

Of course, one is also left feeling, ‘what can I do in the face of such ocean-sized problems?’

Yet violence against women is all around us. It stems from every demeaning cuss and every sexist comment. So, firstly, we have to fight it in our own hearts. Can I strive to be a better husband? Yes – most days. Can I try and impress the values on my daughters and my son? I can contribute, in my tiny sphere of influence, towards a world where women are more likely to feel safe and empowered and then pray that ‘if I can be trusted with that little, maybe God will trust me with more!’ (Luke 16 vs 10).

Ed 18th March 2021

May I also put a shameless plug out to all at Restored, - charity set-up to end violence against women and Mandy Marshall, in particular, whose tireless courage I admire tremendously! We can do worse then follow and then channel a little bit of her into our souls.

A few chosen stats and quotes:

· Infanticide (a new word to my vocabulary): ‘A UN report on pre-natal offsprings aborted for no other reason than they happen to be female.’ Among the stock of women that could potentially be alive in India today, over 25 million are ‘missing.’

· Female Genital Mutilation: (FGM) Upto 140 million women worldwide have undergone FGM. And 140,000 living in the UK. (Though between 1985 when it was criminalised in this country, and the publishing of this book, there had not been one conviction.).

· Early and Enforced Marriage: Every day 39000 girls marry too young (UN), an estimated 70,000 pa then die in pregnancy or child birth as they are not biologically ready. ‘Child marriage is a silent health emergency in the sense that it’s often over-looked as the root cause of maternal morbidity or mortality.’

· Honour Killings: ‘Honour absolves murder’. Figures hard to come by but in Punjab state alone estimated 900-1000 pa. Though so hard to count when much goes unreported.

· Violence in the home: There are so many stats on this it is hard to know where to begin. In some countries quoted in the book an estimated 48% of women suffer violence in the home due to a current or ex partner.

· Trafficking and prostitution: 152 different nationalities of women were found, in 2014 UN report, to have been trafficked in 124 countries. In Nepal, as many as 20,000pa are trafficked from poorer areas to brothels, or domestic servitude as far away as the middle east.

· Rape: In the UK: 2 women will be murdered by their current or former partner every week. 41% of women in London 18-24 had experienced unwanted sexual attention.

· War and sexual violence: 90 of casualties in modern warfare are civilians. Of these 75% are women or children. ‘Women are 80% of all refugees and displaed persons’ ‘Women bear the brunt of war and are the vast majority of casualties.’

· And on the church: 95% of Christians have never heard a sermon on sexual violence or abuse. (If anyone reading this would like one, I’d be delighted to give it a go! J)