The Derogation of Women’s Rights Confronting the Religious Buffering of Gender Violence by Reclaiming Women’s Basic Right to Divine Patronage

Abstract

This paper engages with violence and discrimination against women that is endorsed by a misconstrued theological anthropology and religious beliefs that promote their subordination, render them pathologized, and reduce their possibility of self-realization. The article offers ways to re-think the connection between gender violence and religious beliefs and tries to bridge the divide between religious theory and malpractice and malthinking by refuting any kind of theological and biblical justification for violence against women. It is hoped that a freedom is created that counters the idea that “patronage of the Divine” is exclusively for the man. It confronts the hypocritical paradox that religions diminish women while at the same time defending their human dignity and rights. It is hoped that this article will contribute to the synergy of beliefs and practices that the woman is intrinsically endowed with human dignity and is equitably the Image of the Divine.