War on women

Pentecostal congregations strengthening agency and resilience to fight against gender-based violence

Abstract

South African men have declared war on women, a statement expressing the fight against gender-based violence (GBV). Some argue that such a statement is unfair towards men who still respect the right to health and safety of women in society, while others argue that the roots of this war find their basis in disaster patriarchy. Disaster patriarchy is a process whereby men exploit a crisis to reassert control and dominance, erase women’s rights, women lose their safety, economic power, autonomy, and education and are pushed to the frontlines unprotected. The question is, what does the term “war” have to do with the fight against GBV; how does it find its roots in patriarchy; what can be done to bring this war to an end; and what are the practical theological tools needed to fight and end this war? The study is done from a Classical Pentecostal perspective, focusing specifically on the position of the Apostolic Faith Mission on war, their deliberations on patriarchy and GBV, and what role Pentecostal congregations can play to end this war. The study offers an analysis of patriarchy that serves as a basis for the war on women, engagement with the national GBV plan and its implementation by religious actors, especially Pentecostal congregations, and proposes a humanizing pneumatological approach that recognizes the human rights of those affected by the war and how to strengthen their agency and resilience. The study follows a comparative literature approach and is done using an interdisciplinary lens, consulting literature from the fields of theology, sociology, law and philosophy.