Source: www.MNNonline.org
Date: June 17, 2025
International (MNN) — Mothers, wives, and daughters are often the quiet targets of religiously motivated violence aimed at weakening Christian communities from within.
In countries where being a Christian is treated as a crime, believers are constantly on the defensive. They fight to hold on to their jobs, homes, and status — but most importantly, they fight to protect their women.
Kate, a partner with Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says, “What we see women face is that they are often targeted and trafficked across borders or into cities because of their identity in Jesus.”
The abuse is not random. There is a strategy behind the trafficking of women, forced marriages (sometimes a result of grooming), and sexual assault.
Kate explains, that it happens: “Because of their perceived purity that represents their community. So, those who want to break down the Christian community know that if they violate and break down women, they break down the whole core of that very identity of that society.”
Representative photo courtesy of
Quang Nguyen Vinh via Unsplash
Many of these abused women — mothers, wives, and daughters — find little refuge or support in their churches. “The reason that violating women in this way is so effective is because of the poor status and voice that they often have within the church community itself,” says Kate. Shame silences them. In some cases, they are even seen as cursed.
“That’s a distortion of belief systems and cultural norms that comes into that,” Kate adds.
Healing begins when biblical values are restored in the heart of the community. Stories like Hagar, the Samaritan woman at the well, and Jesus’s own treatment of women break the false narrative that suffering must be hidden.
That’s why the ministry has launched Restorations training, especially in South Asia. It directly addresses harmful theology and cultural views while pointing to Jesus’s example of restoring dignity to women. “And as her pastor or brother or father, we are going to make sure, with her permission, that she has a voice, or we are her voice for her,” says Kate.
Pray that as the Gospel continues to spread around the world, it will bring healing to the societal and cultural wounds that most deeply harm the vulnerable. Visit the Voice of the Martyrs Canada website to learn more about how they support persecuted women.
“If we’re neglecting to fully understand the violence that women suffer, then we’re truly not understanding huge swathes of the Church around the world. Jesus very clearly demonstrated His love, His compassion, and His care for both men and women alike,” says Kate.
Header photo courtesy of Ron Lach via Pexels.