CONTRIBUTORS to our special report on sexual violence this week
were keen to emphasise that there is nothing intrinsic in African
men that makes them perpetrators of sexual violence. Such a
suggestion is as offensive as supposing that African women are
natural victims. Sexual violence has been and remains a global
issue. What makes sub-Saharan Africa worthy of note at present is
the existence of several factors that, together, make sexual
violence more prevalent: political instability, the loss of
authority figures through HIV/AIDS, the strengthening of tribal
identity - and the imperfect understanding of the gospel's
implications for the sexes which has plagued Christian culture down
the ages. The sexual abuse of women to humiliate a community is one
of the most despicable acts of war. Alongside our disturbing report
of how widespread this practice is, it is good to be able to report
the many efforts that are being developed to combat this crime.
Our focus has been on violence against women, since they are
overwhelmingly the victims. But gay people are victims, too, and
Archbishop Welby's comments on LBC (News) involved the
Church of England in their plight. It is unfair to accuse him, as
some have, of allowing the C of E's policy on same-sex marriage to
be dictated by evil men. The nearest parallel is with
hostage-takers. You do nothing to upset them, all the while
resisting the desire to appease them. It is an agonising situation,
felt keenly by the Archbishop, despite his ambivalence, to put it
no more strongly, on the subject of same-sex relationships.
For all that, it is unlikely that the Church of England's
restraint will be matched by the murderous militias in Sudan, the
DRC, and elsewhere. It assumes an unlikely degree of patience and
sophistication on the part of the gunmen to suppose that they might
understand the nature of the Church's relationship with the state,
its tolerance of principled dissent among its clergy, and the lack
of a juridical bond between the different provinces of the
Communion. The assumption that Christianity and Western decadence
are cut from the same cloth has long plagued the Church's
relationships with its neighbours in Africa, the Middle East, and
countries such as China.
Thus it is that engagement and education are the only ways
forward, and these take time. Once again, the Churches stand
condemned for their slothful avoidance of difficult and contentious
matters, allowing ignorance and prejudice to reign unchallenged,
with the result that too many victims are scattered through African
society or under its soil. But finding global agreement on
something as culturally conditioned as sexual behaviour is a fond
hope. What hope there is lies in the many cash-strapped
organisations in Africa set up to combat the violence and to care
for the victims. The Archbishop is right to worry about policies
that might hinder their funding; but first let us find that
funding.