The Genders in Christian Anthropology Vis-À-Vis the Experience of Violence by Women in Nigeria

Abstract

A cursory analysis of the evolution of human history, right from the time when theogonies dominated as the cornerstone of human thinking, through the Ancient, Medieval and Modern Epochs to the Contemporary Era, reveals that women have for a very long time been relegated to the background of second class citizens or even insignificance. The experiences of Nigerian women, with all its attendant characteristics of subordination, oppression and marginalization in spite of globalization and  modernization, has attracted the attention of scholars, religious bodies, activists, feminists and development workers. This issue keeps reoccurring in every academic and informal discussion in Africa. This paper aims at contributing to the ongoing academic discourse on the socio-economic and religio-cultural experience of women in Nigeria, with particular interest on their experience of violence. It further focuses on such issues as women battering, female genital mutilation and rape. It also explores the causes and effects of this violence against women. It finally adopts a new  pedagogy to tackle the problem of violence against women, by focusing on the dignity of the woman in Christian anthropology as a tactic for restoring the dignity of the woman.