Patriarchy and Pastoral Responses to Women's Violence: Insights from The Cry of Tamar

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Pamela Cooper-White presents various types of violence women experience today followed by an examination of pastoral responses in her book, The Cry of Tamar. The introduction with the Biblical passage, The Rape of Tamar, sets a precedence of not only the history of violence against women but also the gender bias women have been and are subjected to. As the book points out, the Church’s responses are often a reflection of the patriarchal society which re-victimizes the woman rather than seeking justice for the violent crimes against them. While there is some noted progress, Cooper-White presents suggestions for pastoral responses to better assist those who experience this violence and striving to educate society to stop gender bias violence …show more content…

The information Cooper-White presents is not just useful for pastoral responses; it is useful for individual and community responses. The most valuable information she provided was the “Essential Message of Hope” which should be expressed to the victim at the time a violent act is being reported and from time to time afterwards. She states it is important the messages of hope are clear and direct to ensure the victim listens and retains the statements. Repeating the statements time to time reminds the victim hope exists and there is support from the individual and God. Each message directly touches on every wrong statement that has been told to a woman re-victimizing her. For example, the first is, “I believe you” and the second is, “This should have never happened to you”. This not only initiates the building of trust, it also allows the victim to feel safe. A more common, gender bias and re-victimizing response is, “Are you sure it was not consensual?” or, “Are you sure you did not provoke this?” The messages of hope are not just appropriate responses to any gender bias violent crime reported by man or woman, they should be a culture society strives for to continue in the path of progress to prevent and end violence against

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