wfn.org | ELCA Domestic Violence Workshop

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 11, 1996

"STOP BLAMING WOMEN"
96-WO-04-KSE

     MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- We must stop blaming women, said Dr.
Charlotte Fiechter, executive director of  Women of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, to 50 participants in a Domestic Violence
workshop.  The workshop preceded Women of the ELCA's Third Triennial
Convention meeting here July 11-14 under the theme "Proclaim God's
Peace."
     The goals of the workshop were to: provide women with a religious
perspective and biblical background on the topic of domestic violence;
present helps in recognizing abuse and domestic violence, and
practical strategies for dealing with concrete situations; and to
learn from survivors how each coped with a difficult situation.
     The Rev. Pamela Cooper-White, an Episcopal priest and author, was
the keynote speaker at the workshop.  Her book, The Cry of Tamar:
Violence Against Women and the Church's Response was recently named
one of the top 10 books of the year by the Academy of Parish Clergy
according to Christian Century magazine.
     In her keynote address, Cooper-White used the Biblical story of
Tamar from 2 Samuel  to illustrate the situation of women affected by
domestic violence and sexual abuse.  Tamar was assaulted by her
half-brother, and the process for justice was removed from her hands
and became "the men's business."  Cooper-White said that the sexual
assault against Tamar was not principally about sexual lust but rather
about the exercise of power and domination -- primarily treated as a
property crime.
     According to Cooper-White, the church is called to break the
silence and bear witness to violence against women .... to cry out for
truth, justice, and the release of the oppressed.  She cited frequent
media images of women as mere body parts as a way that women are
portrayed as objects, to be used.  She said we need to examine these
images -- to take them out of context -- to lift the veil of denial,
"to name the violence, as violence."
     Cooper-White charged the group and the church to mobilize their
anger to work for justice for victims:  "We are called to restore
right relations not just between men and women but within the whole
community ... we are reconcilers ... we have a prophetic and pastoral
ministry."
     After the keynote address, a panel of four women -- all survivors
of domestic violence -- told their stories.  One panelist encouraged
women who are abused to know that "the fight for your dignity and
self-worth is worth the struggle."  Another panelist quoted an author
who wrote, "Tears are a river that takes you somewhere."   And a
panelist lifted up words of hope: "All things can be made new in
Christ."
     Charlotte Thompson, Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women,
finished up the morning by explaining the dynamics of abuse.  She
said: "Battering is a systematic pattern of violent, controlling,
coercive behaviors intended to punish, abuse, and ultimately control
the thoughts, beliefs, and actions of the victim."
     Hung on the walls around the workshop room were 200 simple black
strips with white-lettered names.  Women from the around the country
sent in the strips to recognize women they knew who have suffered from
domestic violence and abuse.

     For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia
Christiansen, Asst. Dir.,(312) 380-2956