The other day I was reading a story about a concubine in the book of Judges, specifically chapters 19 and 20 and thought I should share this with you. In those two chapters, it spoke a Levite concubine who had left her husband living in Ephraim to go to her father's house in Bethlehem. After some time, her husband went to fetch her accompanied by his servant. On the fifth day, the Levite man, his concubine and servant left Bethlehem late. Consequently, they had to seek shelter in Benjamin since it was getting too late to travel. In this town, they couldn't find anyone to take them in and so they rested in the town area. An old man decided to help them out for the night. As they were enjoying themselves in this old man's house, a group of trouble makers came and demanded to sleep with the Levite. The old man pleaded for his cause and offered daughter and the concubine. The men wouldn't listen to him as a result the Levite pushed his concubine outside. These men raped her all night and let her go at dawn. She managed to get herself to the old man's house, where she died at the door.
The husband came out and shook her and realised she was dead. He took her body home where he cut her body into 12 pieces and then sent one piece to all tribes of Israel. Everyone who saw it stated it was a horrible crime that has ever been committed in all of Israel since the time they left Egypt. They questioned what were they going to do? Who is going to speak up? All of Israel united as one man against this atrocity. Messengers were sent to the tribe of Benjamin, where they were asked to give up the guilty men so that they can be executed. The Benjamin failed to listen and instead chose to fight the Israelites.
Prior to the fight, the Israelites went to enquire of the Lord and asked which tribe should go first. Cutting the long story short, the Israelite army sent a few soldiers at a time and each time the Benjamin army would kill them. This happened twice and the Israelites wept in God's presence and fasted. They sought God's direction and received it. The Israelites came up with a different strategy to beat the Benjamin army and this time they succeeded and the whole town was destroyed.
So why am I sharing this story? Because I am a woman living in a country that many women are killed by men who were supposed to love and protect them. Some of these murders were committed by men who simply prey on women to do as they please with no regard or care to the laws that govern the country let alone the life that is at their mercy. I will not get into the statistics of SA but it's worth mentioning that femicide in this country is five times the global average. It is a pandemic that has no clear resolution. New cases every other day reported on the news, another beautiful woman's face splashed as another statistic, such news have become a norm and it shouldn't be like that. A woman who will not get to live out her full potential, to let her light shine.
I have come to learn that many factors come to play when such violence is committed because I wanted to know what goes through a man's mind when they choose to end a relationship this way or commit such a crime (for the random cases where the perpetrator and victim are strangers). I asked a few men about this and most answered on the case of relationships. They said men snap due to consistent nagging or fights, being cheated on or left by the lady they loved, wanting to leave a mistress without the risk of being found out, which would cause one to lose out on what he's built. The reasons are plenty and none of which I have heard justifies any of those senseless killings.
So the story I shared out of the Old Testament (OT) is to highlight that this is not new, however unlike then, even though it was a different time and at that time people living without laws could tell what was done to that one woman was beyond evil to they stood up and united against those who did such wrongs. I have come to know that marches for this causes does raise awareness however, it does not eradicate or decrease the number or rate the violence against women is being committed. There's clearly a deeper problem, a mental one; one that involves the perception of women (as women, not sex objects as portrayed in different platforms of media), knowing when to leave a relationship, relearning moral values, understanding what love is versus lust and obsession. All these can be accomplished when there is open communication, organisations started by upstanding men for all men to learn and discuss these issues. For women to know what part they need to play to aid men and sons of society to act right. These are the different strategies I think would help. We, all of us both men and women alike need to be united as one to fight against gender-based violence and seek for justice for our fallen sisters since a few fighting at a time is not enough. Above all, we need to enquire of the Lord, for the way forward, prayer is needed every day for the safety all women and children and for all men within the borders of this nation to play their part of being the providers, protectors and positive contributors in society they were created to be. Unlike the OT days, we have laws now so the story given was to illustrate the principles learnt as highlighted in the text. Please do share and comment about this issue as I would also like to know your thoughts.
Nna I think all the killings and abuses that are committed r not done so by Man but boys...Man is a protector a provider a brother...
ReplyDeleteThe question remains as to why this is happening? and what can be done to bring change.
ReplyDeleteA situation has been created men are no longer men and fathers. There is enemity between man and woman, children are seeing sex as an instrument of violence.
ReplyDeleteThe family is being broken, once that breaks the nation becomes lost, open and vulnerable
Family is the building block of a stable society.
DeleteIn this day and age, it is absurd that the scourge of gender-based violence is so widespread, worse still for the reasons you've highlighted Kim. I think there's no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem. Perhaps continuing to empower women and creating more forums for sharing their stories can help. Also a societal effort is needed to change the perception that male perpetrators have about women, and also to help them find their God-given purpose. Thanks Kim for sharing on yet another touching issue.
ReplyDeleteTrue that, different problems require different solutions. Thank you for your comment.
ReplyDelete