The day to end violence against women on November 25^th deserves our attention, prayer and action – abuse against women brings misery and brokenness to millions.

The statistics about domestic violence across Europe are staggering – in 16 nations where data is available, 854 women were killed in 2017, by a partner or ex-partner. That’s more than 2 deaths every week. Physical and online abuse, financial control, and psychological abuse impact millions of women every year.

And abuse happens in the Church, even though we rarely admit it and sometimes even excuse it. Valerie Duval-Poujol a French Baptist theologian, says, “The statistics of domestic violence, are so high and occurring within our evangelical churches (1 church-goer out of 4!) that we must do all we can to bring an end to this huge suffering. We know that the numbers of victims may significantly decrease if church leaders are being trained, if our churches offer support to the victims.”

This year, churches across Europe took part in a simple action to raise awareness – an empty chair placed in a prominent place, draped in red, to symbolize the women who are ‘missing’ because of violence. The Christian Network to End Domestic Abuse (CNEDA) produced prayer and preaching resources, and called on churches to take simple steps to support victims and deal with the perpetrators (who may be in the church)

Erika Sebastyén, a doctor in Romania, is a survivor of abuse. She spent years feeling unworthy and ashamed. She wondered whether she needed to love her husband more and got no support from her church. “Sadly,” says Erika, “the Church was on mute, and it needs to break the silence. The Church must be determined to learn about domestic abuse, and must emphasise that abuse and violence towards women is a sin. God does not punish women or want them to endure such a situation.”

Even if the International Day is over, it is not too late to take steps to learn about abuse, and how to support women like Erika.

See CNEDA resources in several languages, and Baptist association resources to stop domestic abuse

You can download a good introduction booklet, A Biblical View of Relationships, in English, Portuguese, French and Russian.