The following resources may be helpful in addressing violence, abuse and control of women in the church.

VIOLENCE AND ABUSE IN THE CHURCH (This really happens, you are not alone)

Clough, Miryam. Vocation and Violence: The Church and #MeToo. Routledge (2022).

This book tells the truth of sexual violence in the church as experienced by women.  Violence can destroy vocations which leave lifelong scars and suffering.  Research shows the church’s slowness to deal with gender inequality and systemic clergy misconduct.

Cooper-White, Pamela. The Cry of Tamar: Violence against Women and the Church’s Response. Fortress Press (2^nd edition, 2012).

Pamela Cooper-White calls the church to account for their responses to sexual violence against women and outlines appropriate pastoral responses for our times.  It is a classic text on the topic of violence against women.

Deans, Louise. Whistleblower: Abuse of Power in the Church: A New Zealand Story. Tandem Press (2001).

During ordination training, Louise Deans was sexually abused and harassed by an Anglican priest.  35 other women had been abused by this same priest. The church covered it up and tried to keep the women silent.  This is a brave book written by a courageous priest.

Everhart, Ruth. The #MeToo Reckoning, Facing the Church’s Complicity in Sexual Abuse and Misconduct. IVP (2020).

https://rutheverhart.com/category/church-sexuality/sexual-abuse-church/

Churches have been complicit in protecting abusers and reinforcing patriarchal power dynamics. Ruth Everhart offers hope to survivors while calling out the prevalence of sexual misconduct in faith communities as issues of shame, secrecy and silence are addressed.

Simpson, Jane. Shaking the Apple Tree. Poetry, Poiemia Books (2024).

This beautiful book of poems is a response to sexual abuse in the Anglican Church in New Zealand.

It is a journey starting with the death of a perpetrator to love poems for all the women who have been sexually abused.  It is a creative response and can help survivors to know they are not alone in their suffering.

STRUCTURE PERPETUATING VIOLENCE ((Some) underlying reasons why this happens)

Clough, Miryam. Shame, the Church and the Regulation of Female Sexuality. Routledge (2017).

Shame has been used to keep women quiet.  This book gives historical examples and will give a fresh take on the issues of shame and gender in the context of religious belief and practice.

Langberg, Diane, Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church. Brazos Press (2020).

Diane Langberg’s book shows how churches need to understand the forms power can take, how it is abused and how to respond to abuses of power.  Leaders need to identify and resist abusive systems.

Manne, Anne. Crimes of the Cross: The Anglican Pedophile Network of Newcastle, Its Protectors and the Man Who Fought for Justice. Black Inc. (2024).

For decades, the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle allowed the cover up of a network of pedophile priests who were abusing hundreds of children.  Journalist, Anne Manne unravels the history and the coverup that allowed this to happen.  It is a remarkable story of survivors who would not be silenced.  There is power in telling this story.  History is recorded.

Williams, Lesley and Williams, Tammy. Not Just Black and White. University of Queensland Press (2020).

This book is presented as an absorbing conversation between Mother and Daughter, Aunty Lesley Williams, a respected Murri (Aboriginal) Elder, and her daughter Tammy, a barrister serving Aboriginal communities in North Queensland.  Aunty Lesley tells the story of life in the 1940s to 1960s on the Cherbourg Reserve under the Qld Protection Act – separation from family, Christian evangelisation, sending out as a domestic servant at age 14 to a pastoral property, unpaid wages – much of which daughter Lesley did not know.  Aunty Lesley’s story illustrates the restrictions, the cruelties and the discrimination which were suffered by many Aboriginal people on the Queensland reserves and mission settlements in the early twentieth century.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT (This is the support we need when it happens and to prevent it from happening)

Brown, Brene.  I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Making the Journey from “What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough”.  Avery (2007).

Just the title alone of this book can bring healing!  Brene Brown reminds us to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality that we’re all in this together.  Don’t let shame keep you silent!

Criado-Perez, Caroline. Do it like a Woman: … and Change the World.  Portobello Trade (2015).

Where power, privilege and basic freedoms are often associated with being male, Caroline Criado-Perez encourages women to be true to themselves by giving examples of women who are changing the world they live in.

Ferguson, Kirstin & Catherine Fox. Women Kind: Unlocking the Power of Women Supporting Women. Murdoch Books (2018).

The authors show the power of women can be unlocked when women support each other and encourage one another to use their voices so they are heard and can share experiences.  The image of a fishing net to bring up many women together, supporting each other shows how women can share clout in transforming communities and make change happen.

Hill, Jess. See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse. Black Inc. (2019).

Combining forensic research with riveting storytelling, this book will challenge everything you thought you knew about domestic abuse.  It is a powerful read!

Lee, Bri. Eggshell Skull. Allen and Unwin (2018).

Bree Lee vowed never to tell her own story of abuse.  She sees the injustice dealt out to women through the court system in Queensland while working as a judge associate.  Her memoir is courageous as she speaks her truth on the other side of the courtroom after years of struggle.

Miller, Suzie. Prima Facie. Picador (2023).

A criminal defence barrister who made her reputation defending men accused of sexual assault and rape has her world turned upside down when she herself is raped by a colleague.  This changes her view of the legal system.

BIBLICAL RESOURCES (Spiritual and theological support)

Gebara, Ivone. Out of the Depths: Women’s Experience of Evil and Salvation. Fortress Press (2002).

A noted Brazilian Catholic theologian presents a gender-based perspective on evil drawing on the voices of women who have suffered.

Lee, Dorothy. The Ministry of Women in the New Testament. Baker Academic (2021).

An esteemed Australian theologian and priest works through all the NT women and texts about women, critiquing notions that women are unable to represent Jesus or are restricted from leadership in the church.

Ostriker, Alicia Suskin. The Nakedness of the Fathers: Biblical Visions and Revisions. Rutgers University Press (1994).

A Jewish poet and theologian recovers the female power buried beneath the surface of the biblical texts.  A singular (mind-expanding) argument with God that mixes fantasy, autobiography, poetry, and feminist biblical interpretation.

Trible, Phyllis. Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. Augsburg Press (1984).

In the Old Testament stories of four women Trible challenges the misogyny of Scripture and its use in church, synagogue and academy.  We hear the important cry of the victim, that more conventional interpretations of the text have missed – terror, violence and pathos – serving the ideological ends of “the ruling class”.  Ancient tales of terror speak all too frighteningly of the present.

More resources on Christian gender equality and the experiences of women in ministry are at https://mowatch.com.au/links-with-like-minds/