Women, violence and Christian eschatological hope

Abstract

Violence against women in Nigeria manifests in many forms, including domestic, verbal, and physical abuse, rape and sexual assault, early and forced marriages, incest, female genital cutting, acid baths and outright killing. Even in public and private spaces, women have continued to suffer various forms of discrimination, degradation and deprivation. A 2019 survey by the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics shows that 30% of Nigerian women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced physical violence, while about 68% have encountered emotional, economic, or sexual abuse. Some of the possible reasons given for this experience by women include drunk state of spouses, financial issues resulting in cases of possible frustration, and the rejection of sexual advances from the partner. While there are several studies on the experience of violence by women, this paper distinguishes itself by studying this experience of women in relation to the resurrection faith, considered by this piece as a Christian eschatological hope. It focused on two major experiences of women: rape and female genital mutilation. While giving importance to seeking legal redress and political commitment to solving these problems, the resurrection faith is not just employed as an eschatological event separate from the present historical event- it is understood as affording liberty in the present to those who believe. For the sake of this paper, the thematic and expository methods of inquiry were adopted.