Justice
and empowerment for women is justice and empowerment for men
29 November
2016 9:29AM
The Revd Domnic
Misolo, founder of the Kenyan NGO Ekklesia
Foundation for Gender Education, advocates for gender justice and
equality from a biblical perspective.
Patriarchy is an enemy of all! It generates seeds
of violence against women and girls across communities around the world. It
makes innocent children suffer from what they don’t understand. Patriarchy is
like a hidden cancer that continues to kill and destroy human family both from
within and out.
Growing up in a rural village in Bondo, Kenya, and
witnessing the reign and cruel hands of patriarchy both over us as children and
our parents, I grew up hating God whom I perceived from my Sunday school
lessons as the author of patriarchy. I could not understand why my father
married three wives who competed for his love. I could not explain why there
was frequent fighting and beating of my mother(s) almost every day. I could not
explain why my mother had to drop out of school at the age of 15 and be married
as a second wife or why, as children, we lacked basic needs yet my mother
continued giving birth to 12 children in the midst of all the struggles and
uncertainty.
Later in my life, God revealed to me that the arch-enemy
of human family is patriarchy, and not males or females! Both my father and
mother conformed to that cruel culture. Patriarchy hands all power to one sex,
locking out healthy choices for many communities around the world for any
healthy relationship or meaningful development.
Recently, I was invited by a fellow Anglican priest
to speak to a group of young married women and men in his church about positive
masculinity and biblical equality. My opening remark “Justice and empowerment
for women are equally justice and empowerment for men” attracted smiles and
cheers from the group.
During my presentation, a man said, “Last week when
our Bible study coordinator said that our next class would be on gender
equality I was hesitant and uneasy for I knew it would be all about how men are
bad, bad and bad.” He said that he had been opposed to discussions on equality
between women and men because they seemed to be about a war between women and
men, a struggle for dominant power. My initial remarks that justice for women
is justice for men too sounded like good news and a good start for this topic.
One of the great lessons I’ve learned is that in
our pursuit of gender equality we need to speak and tell this truth in love.
Patriarchy has done and is still doing lots of harm to all human beings with
its roots deeply in our religious misunderstanding and in secular worldviews.
Millions of women and girls around the world are suffering and enslaved just
because they are female.
Based on my passion and struggles to engage men in
the fight against patriarchy within church circles, I want to say that equality
for women and men is not and should not be portrayed as war between men and
women, or a contest for power. Gender equality is about all human beings
understanding and upholding the essential dignity, worth, and gifting of each
other as women and men, girls and boys made in God’s image.
A version of
this reflection appears in A Resource
for Prayer, Reflection and Action for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based
Violence
from the We Will Speak Out coalition. The 16 Days run each year from 25
November to 10 December.
- The
International Anglican Women’s Network and the Anglican Alliance are
holding a free online webinar for the 16 Days on churches tackling
gender-based violence, at 2pm GMT on Thursday (1 December). Click here for more details and to
register.
