adminTsitsidzashe Matingwina Features Writer
“This was not my first time to come for prayers and receive holy water at the shrine. I had been there many times and was beginning to trust the ‘prophet’. “He was very good and seemed to understand my problems. He was like my brother.
“When I got to his house, he led me into a room used as the holy shrine. He spoke in tongues and in an inaudible voice. He laid his hands on my head and started praying and shaking me.
“While I was absorbed in prayer, he suddenly pushed me to the floor and raped me. I struggled to free myself but he overpowered me.”
The painful reconstruction of events that took place the day Ruvarashe Munhamo (not her real name) of Epworth was raped by a prophet she had put all her trust in. The memories are still painful and she regrets ever visiting the prophet.
She is among many women who seek spiritual help from “spiritual fathers and prophets” but have become victims of abuse in the hands of the so-called “men of God”.
The church is generally perceived as a sanctuary of hope for people with spiritual, socio-economic problems, but recent reports of women being victims of abuse show that churches have now been turned into dens of all sordid things unimaginable even in the secular world.
Most men of the cloth have become wolves in sheep’s skin and hide behind the Bible to do the most unimaginable things.
In fact, the common denominator among such men of cloth who abuse women is that they maintain power and authority by being emotionally, physically and sexually manipulative of their victims.
They take advantage of the victim’s desperate need for help and psycho-support in times of problems.
Women are increasingly being victimised because they are too trusting of clergymen.
In the face of mounting problems in the home and society, people have taken solace in the church. Social commentators blame the lack of education on how to deal with problems women face.
With very few professional marriage counsellors in the country, most women get this service at church.
Tragic is that most husbands do not go to the churches their wives seek help from.
This lack of psychological support from husbands “delivers” women into the hands of prospective abusers.
The perpetrators employ all sorts of tricks like intimidation, humiliation, isolation and fear to diminish their victim’s sense of self and sanity.
Some men of cloth even go a step further and misquote and distort Bible verses to justify the subjugation of women.
Religious texts and doctrines are wrested out of context to institutionalise abuse and lower the women’s status in the church.
Apostolic Flame Ministries and School of Deliverance founder Bishop Oliver Chipunza said women abuse in churches can be decisively solved from a spiritual standpoint.
“Women end up being victims of abuse because challenges such as barrenness, unemployment and single parenting which drive them to pour out their problems to perceived men of God without first seeking spiritual guidance on the authenticity of such men of God,” Bishop Chipunza said.
He, however, revealed that certain cultural beliefs and religion have over the years been used to perpetuate the oppression and abuse of women.
“It is sad to note that in most cases, victims of abuse in church have nowhere to turn to. They are often blamed for being victims of abuse.”
They are accused making themselves available to abusers.
The search for instant riches or lack of financial empowerment also make women more vulnerable to abuse. Psychologically they cling on to the doctrine of making money without having to work hard for it.
As such they end up in these abusive relationships for the sake of money.
In some doctrines women cannot be fulfilled or spiritually effective without a husband or children leading to some marrying for a sense of completion.
However, ignorance, blind loyalty or naivety also lead to abuse.
In some instances, women respect holy words from the man of God which impair their judgment.
The church traditions that women must always submit to their husbands in all situations are also a thorn.
God created women as inferior beings destined to serve their husbands. Dysfunctional family units have also forced women to find solace in the church.
Victims of domestic violence tend to open up to the spiritual man of God. Sadly, they fall in the same trap of more abuse, this time sexual.
The RMG Independent End Time Message founder Robert Martin Gumbura’s case is an interesting one that brings out how women can easily be manipulated through the word of God, money and sex.
For example, when Chemai (one of Gumbura’s victims) lost her father she fell into the hands of the convicted serial rapist.
From the time she was 20 up until the clergyman’s incarceration, she was unable to connect with relatives because they were practically cut off from them. Since then, she was on the receiving end of exploitation by the ‘man of God’.
Ms Tendai Bobo of Harare said the patriarchal background that underlines most apostolic sects make women vulnerable to abuse at the hands of the leadership.
She said: “When having marital problems women tend to pour out their hearts to church elders who are supposed to take the counselling role. However, when he learns the weakness of the spouse he may take advantage of the situation.
“Women end up having more trust in pastors and church elders and in most cases these are the main abusers.”
Madzimai Sarah of Johanne Masowe sect said women by nature want to associate with people who have money and power and as such they go out of their way to please the elders or pastors hence they end up being abused.
“When a woman has no leadership position she waits for instructions from the man of God and this instils inferiority complex making them prone to abuse.
“No matter the marital status, level of education, religion has power over people. Sometimes if you are to query what the pastors say it is considered work of the devil. You are told that you cannot fight the spirit because you do not have spiritual eyes.
“Depending on the doctrine, some churches’ respect of women is based on marital status. If you are a single parent or become older without getting married, you are prone to abuse from other women and even men.”
“In some cases you hear statements like hatitungamirirwe nemvana ,” said Madzimai Sarah.
In some apostolic faith churches, small girls never have a chance to grow and choose a man of their choice.
Twelve year-olds are usually hand-picked and “thrown on the marital bed” by older men some of them over 50 years old.
Musasa Project director, Nettie Musanhi said: “It is very easy to fall prey if you are single, looking for a job or a baby. It is easy for the man of the cloth or prophet to promise you that you will get a husband, a job. That is usually a pretext for abuse.”
In some instances women are forced into marriages of convenience because of some church doctrines which stipulate that females derive dignity and respect from the being in matrimony.
“Women seek refuge in church that is why they attend church in larger numbers and strive to compete for attention of the clergyman,” Musanhi added.
Women must not deify clergymen to the extent of not being cautious of what is happening around them in the church. They must maintain responsibility for their own safety to avoid being victims of abuse.
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