24 Aug 2020

The complexity of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in church lies in how it is dealt with, who orchestrates it and how it happens in the midst of “agape”  love espoused in the Bible.

In an interview with BOPA recently, renowned Christian counseling psychologist, Ms One Nkitseng said GBV was rife  in church where brotherhood and sisterhood, love and self-control were preached. 

Unfortunately, in the spirit of love, there was cover up and as a result most perpetrators were not prosecuted, she said.

She said one would expect the church by its nature to provide solutions to GBV but was instead silent.

Ms Nkitseng said GBV in church was elusively sustained in the rituals, beliefs and myths.

She victims of rape and sexual violence believed anything they were told by church leaders.

“Where church leaders condition members that there are beyond reproach, where church leaders are taken as if they are immortal and therefore above human weaknesses and faults and when they wrong members; it becomes hard for other members to believe,” she said.

She said some members were taken advantage of due to perceptions about the church and reverence accorded to its leaders.

While in church, Ms Nkitseng said, members were not vigilant in protecting themselves.

“When they are invited to homesteads by their leader for a private prayer, they oblige only for them to be raped,” he said.

Ms Nkitseng said most GBV victims in church were shunned when they spoke openly against it and would often be silenced to save the church name rather than facilitating bringing of the culprit to book.

In cases where bold victim spoke up, they would not be believed by other members and the issue would be swept under the carpet, she said adding the victim would sometimes be accused of seducing the church leader and labelled  the biblical “Jezebel”, she said.

Ms Nkitseng called on Christians to refuse to join the conspiracy of silence over sexual and gender-based violence in churches and homes.

She pointed out that the church, like government and civil society should provide programmes and services to mitigate violence against women and children.

Ms Nkitseng encouraged GBV victims who were church members to speak up and also urged Christians to read and understand scriptures on matters of sex.

“The Bible is against sex before marriage, why do you keep quite when a leader uses you sexually?” she asked.

 Such acts should be reported because they had some long term effects of hatred, psychological trauma and even death, she said.

“Members become spiritual dead, death of both the soul and spirit, as they get angry at God,” explained Ms Nkitseng.

The church was also advised to create room for discussing issues of intimacy, sexuality and GBV openly.

Furthermore, she called upon the church to teach morality and stand for the truth in recognition of GBV so that the scourge would not find space in the institution.

Ms Nkitseng also advised GBV victims in the church to report such acts to the police.

In her quest to address issues affecting the church, she said she had developed an “Open Platform with Bona” going live on Facebook every Sunday evening.

She said during the discussion on GBV, it was sad to discover that most church females had been raped with the perpetrators  going  unpunished due to the culture of silence.

The church, she said, was viewed as a sacred place and a pillar for the broken-hearted hence the need for it to address such issues to maintain its image.

For his part, Organisation of African Institute Churches (OAIC) president Reverend Phillimon Motlhagodi confirmed issues of GBV in churches.

Rev Motlhagodi said most women and the girl child were victimized under the pretext that they had to be submissive. 

Some victims had fallen pregnant at the hands of church leaders, he said. The OAIC leader said the organisation had conducted several workshops and PITSOs to sensitise members about GBV.

He said some leaders involved in GBV were demoted while one case had been reported to the police.

In another interview, Botswana Council of Churches (BCC) president, Bishop Metlhayotlhe Beleme said cases of GBV had increased tremendously in the country hence the need for every individual to fight it.

Bishop Beleme of Anglican Church, said there was rape, incest, defilement in churches which needed to be curbed.

He urged leaders to refrain from such acts.

BCC, he said, participated in the 16 days campaign against GBV annually. Ends