THE NEED

THE WORLD

• Approximately one fourth of the world’s women and women are violently abused in their own homes. The U.S. government reports the same statistic for the U.S.1 Domestic violence in the U.S. is the biggest cause of injury to women. ²
• 70% of the world’s poor are women. ³
• A girl is twice as likely to be uneducated as a boy. ⁴ In multiple countries, women and girls are fed after the men, ⁵ and many do not receive the same nutritious food.
• 2 million girls around the world (mostly in Africa and the Middle East) are mutilated annually through female genital circumcision. ⁶
• In India more than 5,000 brides are burned to death each year so that the husband can seek another bride and dowry. ⁷
• Female babies disappear in numerous countries, especially in Asia, and in some countries the problem is “severe.” ⁸
• As many as four million women and children are sold each year for the sex trade or to work as slaves. ⁹ In Thailand, young kidnapped girls are kept in brothels, often until they die, and often from AIDS. ¹⁰
• In the U.S., 34% of all sexual assault victims are under the age of 12; ¹¹ 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men has experienced an attempted or completed rape. ¹²

THE CHURCH

• The Church is not immune to the problem of domestic violence, sexual abuse, or divorce, and sometimes Scripture is misused to justify ungodly behavior.²
• Various Christian churches hold different opinions on the levels of leadership women may hold,² based on different interpretations of Scripture (see reverse side of map), and sometimes gifted and mature women feel disenfranchised.²
• Many women,² especially professional women, have turned away from the church or will not have anything to do with it due to the treatment of women by some churches. ²

References:

1. The National Women’s Health Information Center, 4woman.gov, A Project of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health, http://www.4woman.gov/violence/violence.cfm?page=92. Downloaded 9-13-04.
2. Lorry Lutz, Women as Risk Takers for God,(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), 33.
3. Sheryl Watkins, “Women: Five Barriers Facing Women in the Developing World,” Today, (Federal Way, WA: World Vision, April-May 1997), 4-7, as cited in Why Not Women? by Loren Cunningham and David J. Hamilton, (Seattle, WA: YWAM Publishing, 2000), 18.
   
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. “Female Genital Mutilation, A Joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Statement,” 1997, Order No. 1150454, http://www.who.int/docstore/frh-whd/publications/p-fgm1.htm.
7. “Are Our Sisters and Daughters for Sale?” Himendra Thakur, “India Together,” http://www.indiatogether.org/wehost/nodowri/stats.htm. Downloaded 9-13-04.
8. U.S. Census Bureau, “Son Preference in Asia—Report of a Symposium,” Judith Banister, 1994, http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/ebspr96a.html. Downloaded 9-13-04.
9. “Child Trafficking Statistics around the World: Global March Against Child Labour,” http://www.globalmarch.org/child-trafficking/statistics.html. Downloaded 9-13-04. “Human Rights Watch, Forced Prostitution and HIV/AIDS,” http://www.hrw.org/about/projects/womrep/General-137.htm. Downloaded 9-13-04.
10. Susan C. Hyatt, In the Spirit We’re Equal, (Dallas, TX: Hyatt International Ministries, Inc.,1998), 6.
11. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Incident-Based Statistics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ibrs.htm. Downloaded 9-13-04.
12. “Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet,” National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, National Violence Against Women Survey, Tjaden, 2000. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/svfacts.htm.