Domestic Violence and Faith Based Communities:
Focus on African American Communities



African American Women and Domestic Violence

We know that domestic violence crosses all racial lines and that the root causes are sexism and the acceptance of violence against women in society. However, the dynamics of and contributors to domestic are culturally specific. This paper will highlight some of the common, complex and culturally specific contributors to violence against African American women and address the role of faith as a resource and a roadblock.

Carolyn M. West in her book, Violence in the Lives of Black Women, brought to light the ways in which Black women are “living at the intersection of multiple oppressions” and this fact, shapes their experience with violence.

Certainly, the effects of slavery, institutional racism, internalized hatred, Black feminine stereotyping, and educational, economic and health inequalities and disparities contribute to the violence against women. The least discussed protagonists in the contributors to domestic violence in the African American community are some of the traditional teachings of the Black Church.




Cultural Specifics

J. Asbury in her research identified several factors that contribute to violence in African American relationships including:1) child exposure to domestic and community violence; 2) financial instability; and 3) substance abuse.

Black feminine stereotypes also contribute to domestic violence. The acceptance and use of controlling images for Black women, (e.g., mammies, matriarchs, jezebels and welfare mothers) created by the dominant culture, encourage men to objectify African American women. Patricia Hill Collins (2000).

Black media, predominately owned by White media moguls, have also contributed to violence against women. The music and videos pumped into the minds and bodies of Black youth are filled hyper masculine and sexual stereotypes carrying misogynistic messages. These images affirm self hatred and hatred of women.

Roadblocks to Women Seeking Help and Leaving Abusive Relationships
Service provider roadblocks for victims seeking help
• Negative interactions with social services
• Disrespect, mistreatment, sexually harassment by medical professionals
• lack of response from police
• Insensitivity and lack of welcome at shelters for battered women

Community or cultural roadblocks for victims seeking help
• Code of silence (protecting the image of the larger Black community)
• The facade of “strong Black women” (independent survivor)
• Protection of Black men from discrimination (law enforcement & justice system)
• Sympathy for the plight of Black men (racism, prison, homicide, unemployment, etc.)
• The scarcity of Black men (high value of getting and keeping a man)
• Social Isolation
• Internalized common stereotypes that support self-hatred
• Religious teachings that support the subordination of women and the control by men as appropriate and
justified

What African American Survivors Need Within Their Community
• To be heard and believed ( a safe place where she can tell her story)
• Compassion (people who will affirm her victimization and stand with her)
• Support (encouragement from other African American survivors and bystanders)
• Spiritual direction (affirmation of value and worth)
• Relevant faith (finding a faith community that supports healthy mutual relationships and support of those
who have been victimized)
• Resources when she decides to leave the abuser (shelter, housing, money, transportation, etc)
• Advocacy (African American advocates and/or culturally competent advocates)
• Accountability for the abuser
• Justice (assistance in seeking vindication)


Faith and Domestic Violence in the African American Community
African American women have a long history of a strong faith tradition in the Black Church. Faith and spirituality has always been the core strength in the pain, struggles, love and successes of Black women. Studies of African American survivors have documented the importance of spirituality and religious involvement in their ability to cope with and heal from abusive relationships (Gillum 2008)

Al Miles in his book, Ending Violence in Teen Dating Relationships, makes note of how our patriarchal society [within the Black community] especially in our religious institutions make it very easy for young Black males to believe they can do whatever they please with Black women and girls.

Various studies confirm that victims / survivors who come from a deep sense of faith, who experience abuse at the hand of their intimate partners, often face a further dilemma of possibly relinquishing their faith community if they walk out of the abusive situation. Deep theological struggles relating to gender roles within the family, sin, forgiveness, divorce are central concerns for victims/survivors. They often yearn for a more comprehensive response to their personal crisis. They want advocates to acknowledge their faith issues and they want their pastoral caregivers to respond to the abuse they have experienced with compassion.

Gillum’s work also reveals that domestic violence service providers working with African American survivors have encountered women who have frequently received a response from clergy that blames them for the abuse thus prompting the women to return to an abusive partner. Some victims/survivors become disheartened with their pastors and churches and leave their faith community. They are forced to choose between safety and their faith community which is a difficult and painful choice.

All too often African American women have to leave their community, churches and even family in order to find safety, resources, and affirmation. Having to leave your community, family church to find social support is devastating for the double minority, Black woman. The loss is multiplied and the sense of betrayal is magnified: not only having to leave her community but also having to go into a world where she feels unsafe as well, a world where she is stereotyped objectified, ignored, and harassed because of race and gender.

Faith can also be an invaluable resource in addressing violence against women since it promotes justice, healing and spiritual support. All faith traditions advocate for peace, harmony, social justice, healing and spiritual support of all human beings. The sense of community that faith offers is another important resource which can be useful when victims / survivors have to go to courts and/or have to find safety. It is becoming more common for faith traditions to develop pastoral training, care and misconduct policies and procedures to create more healthy faith communities. (E. Peterson 2009)

While in the past, faith leaders may or may not have been helpful, it is essential that they are enrolled as we seek to find more comprehensive and collaborative interventions to improve the lives of women and children.

Although the Black church has a long history of being a sanctuary and a liberating entity in the Black community, it is also a place where sexism is perpetuated. The traditional understanding of gender and marital roles create a ripe environment for the abuse of women. All too often traditional Christian teachings and pastors are the roadblocks to the safety and healing for abused women. But, as a result of many years of work by FaithTrust Institute, Institute of Domestic Violence in the African American Community, The Black Church and Domestic Violence and others, more pastors and churches are becoming safe places and people for abused women.

Religious Roadblocks to Safety and Healing

Religious Roadblocks: Interpretation and teachings of sacred texts
• God hates divorce (God will hate me if I get a divorce)
• Wives submit to husbands (good Christian women submit to their husbands)
• Forgiveness (shouldn’t I forgive my abuser)
• Suffering (my suffering brings makes me a stronger Christian)
• Prayer and faith in God ( I have to continue to pray and trust God to change my husband)
• Punishment of sin(this is my fault, I am being punished for my past sins)

Religious Resources for Black Women

Potential resources from interpretations and Christian teaching of sacred texts:
• You are not alone (God is on the side of the oppressed)
• God has a plan for your life (Jesus came to set the captives free)
• You can begin again (God heals the broken hearted and wipes away their tears)
• The abuse is not your fault (the truth will set you free)
• You are worthy of love and respect (Jesus came that you would have life abundantly)
• God does not hate you (nothing can separate you from the love of God)
• Mutuality and consent in healthy relationships (wives and husbands submit to one another out of love for God)

What African American Survivors Need from Their Faith Community
• Pastoral care (theological clarity and spiritual direction grounded in sacred texts)
• To be heard and believed ( a safe place and where she can tell her story)
• Safety (assisting with safety for victim and children)
• Compassion (people who will understand her victimization and stand with her)
• Resources when she decides to leave the abuser (shelter, housing, money, transportation etc)
• Referral (referral for local resources)
• Accountability for the abuser


Faith, specifically Christianity, is almost impossible to ignore when speaking about the lives of African American women. To ignore the Black churches or traditional black spirituality’s influence on how women and girls perceive themselves, i.e. whether they are valued or abused by others is to close an eye to the elephant in the room and diminish the power of the movement to liberate and protect Black women and girls.

Only through community collaboration, sacred and secular working together, can we develop and implement intervention and prevention strategies that will help bring and end to violence against women.


Rev. Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih
FaithTrust Institute









Asbury, J. (1987). African American women in violent relationships: An exploration of
Cultural differences. In R. Hampton (Ed.), Violence in the Black family:
Correlates and consequences. Washington DC: DC Heath and Company
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the
politics of empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge.
Gillum, T. L. (2008a). Community response and needs of African American female
Survivors of domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(1), 39-57.
Gillum,T. L. (2009). The Intersection of Spirituality and Domestic Violence in the African American Community. The Institute of Domestic Violence in the African American Community. Faith and Domestic Violence Monograph.

Peterson E. (2009) Faith and Violence Against Women. FaithTrust Institute, Washington Coalition Against Sexual Assault article.