Fighting for freedom for Human Trafficking victims is a mission field largely supported by the church but not the fight for freedom for Domestic Violence victims; the abused woman sitting in the church. You may not think of abused women in America in the same light as trafficked women both from the U.S. and from other countries. This is America, after all. We have options here, right?
Yes, this is America where everything runs on the almighty dollar. If a woman decides she needs to leave for her safety in the middle of the night but she has no credit card, no cash on hand, no vehicle of her own, no job, no family to turn to (isolation and financial abuse are major components of how the abuser maintains control)—where does she leave and go to?
She may be able to find enough beds available that night for herself and her children in one of the 42 Florida certified domestic violence shelters. But she worries what will happen the next night and the night after that. Women are afraid for themselves and their children--right here in America. They are afraid to stay and almost more afraid to leave. We have many women suffering silently in fear and shame with a life-threatening issue the church largely ignores.
What Is The Answer? As always, knowledge! “For a lack of knowledge, the people perish." We need to talk about what domestic abuse is in church—from the pulpit. We need to help these women get free. We need to emphasize that God does not want His daughters mistreated and how the Scriptures regarding marriage and a wife’s role do NOT apply in a situation where she is being abused.