'A change of attitude within its opinion leaders will go a long way in reversing the alarming levels of domestic violence and subordination of women in Pacific society’


Despite the high values that all religions enjoin us to live by, the interpretations of religious texts and teachings are often skewed by men in power in religious hierarchy to perpetrate the indulgence of their own fancies or strengthen their hold on the flock.

Down the ages, it has not been uncommon for men of the cloth to perpetuate the divine word more in letter than in spirit, many times colouring it with their own personal prejudices, biases and expediency in pursuit of protecting their own interests.

Many times, such men who wield power and influence over people have also sought to continue to interpret religious teaching in the context of the centuries’ old time frame that they were first contemplated, leaving no room whatsoever to accommodate the real changes that have taken place in the evolution of modern society. 

In some cases, their interpretations continue in ancient frames of reference even if they go against the grain of rights, freedoms and the equality of all individuals guaranteed by modern democratic governments, often under the self serving, specious casuistry that such things are a matter of faith and beyond the ken of secular law.

Gender equality and women’s rights are two areas that continue to suffer from such outdated interpretations in many parts of the world, not least in the Pacific. Generations of women have suffered in silence while their men folk have abused them and often relegated them to the existence of speechless animals citing convenient misinterpretations of both societal and religious sanction. And this is not peculiar to just one or two religions: it has been the leitmotif of the over zealous practitioners of the world’s major religions, tough varying in degrees.  

So entrenched is the subjugation of women in society, that in many countries women have simply accepted it as a fait accompli. According to Papua New Guinea author Christina Kewa, it is common for educated women to turn up to work with black eyes and facial bruises shrugging it off as just another altercation with their husbands or partners. It’s as if their modern education has made no difference to their subconsciously blind acceptance of women as objects of hate.

No religion ever teaches that the genders are unequal; in fact many expressly extol the virtues of the feminine gender as the harbingers of life. Ancient civilisations are replete with a culture of the mother goddess and so are several modern religious sects. No religion ever sanctions the ill treatment of women or for that matter any other living being.

It is the interpretation by self-serving men who pursue positions of power using religion to get a stranglehold on their flocks that skew most religious teaching. And therefore, it is not uncommon to see men of religion -- men of god as they would prefer to be called -- indulging in abhorrent acts that demean women and children.

This is perfectly exemplified by the case of a Tongan woman who having long suffered violent attacks at the hands of her husband, who also held an office in their church, failed to get any action from the church when she asked for succor. “The church let me down, not God,” she said. And it was her unflinching faith in her God that gave her the courage to walk out, kids in tow, to start the Pacific kingdom’s first and only safe home through her National Centre for Women and Children.

In such a state of affairs, it is extremely heartening to note that gender studies has been made a part of the curriculum in colleges of theology in the Pacific. A recent regional meeting acknowledged that domestic violence was on the rise throughout the Pacific and religion had to get involved in playing a larger role in reversing the trend.

Consultations on the proposed curriculum on gender studies for theological colleges heard that traditional patriarchal systems and entrenched cultural attitudes that perpetuate violence against women and children and continue to consider women as second-class citizens had to be stopped in order to realise women’s full societal potential.

While it may be true that ancient religious texts have portrayed the role of women in a certain light, it must be remembered at all times that they were codified during the realities of their own ancient times and are a stark anachronism in modern life where societal circumstances dictate a more egalitarian attitude.

Sticking to the latter rather than the spirit of religious texts -- especially those codified in societal realities that were a world apart compared to today -- is nothing but a fundamentalist attempt to fossilise the dynamic quality of religion, which foremost teaches the love of God in all circumstances and in all ages. Such attempts reek of self interest and the over arching ambition of men in power to twist some tenets of religion to further the culture of their dominance.

Therefore, this watershed effort to address violence against women from within the church -- developed and coordinated by the South Pacific Association of Theological School’s Women Doing Theology programme -- must be greatly commended and supported at all levels.

For the church wields considerable influence on the hearts and minds of the Pacific people and a change of attitude within its opinion leaders, preachers, pastors and officials towards gender issues would doubtless go a long way in reversing the alarming levels of domestic violence and the subordination of women in Pacific society.

But the biggest impediment to this brave and long overdue effort may come from the masses of women themselves. For so long have they been subjugated and their spirit crushed by entrenched male dominated attitudes, that there will have to be a great effort on the part of women leaders to get the rank and file of Pacific women to believe in themselves that they can indeed make it all happen through their active participation.

The united power of women should never be underestimated. After all, it is when they came together that they became the most potent force to stop a civil war in its tracks in the Solomon Islands. In other parts of the world such as India, women’s movements have successfully tackled alcoholism and drug abuse among their men folk by the simple act of fighting the menace in a united fashion.

It is time Pacific women participate similarly in changing attitudes towards them in society by starting at the region’s most influential institution -- the church.