Hi/stories of gender in/justice

Abstract

Churches in South Africa have a history of gender injustice, that is, of not being accountable to women believers. This article presents stories of women testifying to the effects of unjust gender discourses on their lives. Two research populations speak out in this article, the one being 203 poor women who reported for counselling at a state hospital in Tshwane, and the other a group of 10 middle class women who were admitted to a psychiatric hospital after breaking down because of verbal abuse in their intimate relationships. This article works with the hypothesis that state laws cannot safeguard women in their intimate spaces where divine law rules. Church history in South Africa testifies to churches supporting patriarchal discourses that render women vulnerable to abuse in their intimate relationships. Recommendations are made to re-story women’s stories of despair into church practices that will enable churches to invite gender justice into their midst, and empower them to become places of healing.