All four must undergo psychological treatment and training in gender discrimination, Judge Carolina Cáceres decreed.

Cáceres's breakthrough ruling found the accused had abused 20 cloistered of Discalced Carmelite nuns for over twenty years.

Although the archbishop and officials denied committing any violence, Cáceres saw their actions differently.

A group of the nuns had brought the case against the men to court.

The nuns cited a range of mistreatment. This included verbal insults, threats, humiliation and physical — although not sexual — assault.

They had told the court of instances of Cargnello grabbing, slapping and shaking women.

In one case, they said Cargnello squeezed a nun's lips to silence her. In another case, he pounced on a nun, striking her as he struggled to snatch a camera from her hands.

They also accused Cargello of borrowing their money without paying them back.

The judge described the instances as "physical and psychological gender violence".

"I conclude and affirm that the nuns have suffered acts of gender violence religiously, physically, psychologically and economically for more than 20 years" she said.

She ordered the verdict be conveyed to Pope Francis, himself an Argentinian.

Longstanding abuse

The Argentinian judge's ruling casts a spotlight on Catholic priests' and bishops' long-standing abuse of nuns.

The nuns' lawyer hailed the verdict as unprecedented in Argentina. It recognises the plaintiffs' plight and the deeper problem of gender discrimination.

"It shatters the ‘status quo' because it targets a person with a great deal of power" the nuns' lawyer says.

While other church scandals generally take centre stage, gender abuse cases are not isolated.

Bringing such cases into the open is attributed to nuns feeling emboldened by the #MeToo movement and its Church corollary, #NunsToo.

Appeal likely

The archbishop's lawyer claims the ruling is baseless and is planning to appeal.

Nonetheless, the archbishop will abide by the order to receive treatment and anti-discrimination training through a local NGO, his lawyer says.

He will do it "whether or not he agrees with its basis".

Hidden problem

In recent years, several prominent cases have emerged involving nuns, laywomen and consecrated women denouncing priests for their spiritual, psychological, physical or sexual abuse.

Their complaints have been largely unheard.

The Vatican has been deaf. Argentina's rigid all-male clerical hierarchy didn't seem to offer an option.

The nuns turned instead to the secular justice system.

A similar dynamic occurred when the clergy abuse of minors scandal first erupted decades ago. Then, as now, victims turned to secular courts because of inaction by church authorities.

Source

• APNews

Those who have been hurt or broken in life often respond by striking out and hurting or harming the people who are near them.

• Many abusers are victims of abuse.
• Many bullies are victims of bullying.
• These pain patterns get passed on generation after generation.

Elisha is Jeered

… Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. "Get out of here, baldy!. He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria. (2 Kings 2:23-25)

The passage from Scripture above forces us to evaluate everything we know about God, and what we know about God will influence everything we know about being human: sin, Satan, grace, mercy, salvation, heaven, hell, and redemption.

If there is any passage in Scripture that will challenge our consistent understanding of God it is 2 Kings 2.

Here we have the prophet Elisha at the beginning of his ministry.

His mentor, Elijah, has just ascended into heaven in a fiery chariot, but before he ascends, Elijah grants Elisha a double portion of his spirit.

Israel has newly appointed Elisha as Elijah's successor.

On his journey to Bethel, Elisha performs a miracle, then he is suddenly ambushed by a group of boys who hurl humiliating insults at him. Before the boys could humiliate him any further, Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord. And on that day, two bears killed 42 of the boys.

Then the prophet, without hesitation, continued his journey.

Elisha's choice to express himself violently is not a coincidence.

In 1 Kings:19, Elisha first meets Elijah and becomes enamoured of him.

Elijah went up to [Elisha] and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah.

"Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye," he said, "and then I will come with you." "Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?" So Elisha left him and went back. [Elisha] took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment and gave the cooked food to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant. (1 Kings 19:20-21)

It is my interpretation that someone had to teach the young man Elisha how to be mercilessly violent.

Further examination shows that Elisha was born into an environment where indoctrination into a tradition of violence was typical.

So the prophet was a product of his social location, a culture where people automatically tolerated men who acted out in a feral manner, especially if the victims were women and children.

The ancient world normally expects such behaviour from men.

Sadly, these men were never exposed to other options in their lives.

It is reasonable to conclude that you cannot expect someone to give you something they have never received nor to act in a manner they have never witnessed.

Elisha felt disrespected and reacted in the way other men in his social location would have reacted.

He was born into patriarchy, which explains his instinct for feeling disrespected.

Unfortunately, patriarchy has not gone anywhere since antiquity.

Patriarchy as a system does not allow men to express the full range of their emotions, and as a result, men have conditioned themselves to bottle up their feelings.

Often men express themselves either through silence, violence, or indulging in vices and these forms of expression are socially acceptable today.

These false walls of insulation are meant to protect us from hearing "you're soft," "man up" and "men don't cry."

This defence mechanism is experienced when we screw the top onto our bottled-up hurt, and life begins shaking us.

Before we know it, when we finally open up, we explode.

Consequently, those around us receive the residue from what was in us the entire time.

I believe the tragic first passage of scripture serves as a prophetic message to us that there are consequences when we do not do the necessary heart work.

Hurt people hurt people. That's how pain patterns get passed on, generation after generation after generation.

Break the chain today.

Meet anger with sympathy, contempt with compassion, cruelty with kindness.

Greet grimaces with smiles.

Forgive and forget about finding fault.

Love is the weapon of the future. (Tweet from Yehuda Berg, August 22, 2013).

At this moment, when our own pride, image, or feelings come under attack, we have a choice: we can retaliate like the world or, we can look up for help. Prepare Love Praise (R) Ministries NFP.

From Jeremiah's message to the house of David to Paul in his letter to the Romans, the scriptures are replete with instructions for nonviolence.

This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. (Jeremiah 22:3)

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. I

f possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

In a real sense, we are lovers and fighters.

As God's beloved, we fight for our integrity, character and purpose in this world.

Some people, who don't walk in the daily reality of God's love, fight for other things.

Some people are fighting to get approval from others.

Some are fighting for positions of influence, power and control.

Others are fighting to overcome the fear that would otherwise paralyse them.

When we enter the reality of being beloved by God, however, we begin to recognize God's weapon of choice - the power of love.

We must begin by loving ourselves as God loves us, and in turn we begin to love others as God loves them.

Jesus referred to this as the second great commandment: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:39).

We cannot love our neighbours without loving ourselves first.

God loves us so much that He made a way for us to be transformed and empowered by His love. No matter the situation the circumstances, we find that God's love empowers us to choose nonviolence.

The ultimate expression of God's love for us is Christ Jesus.

Hurt people hurt people but for the power of love!

• Aaron T. Hill, Sr is Director of Inclusion and Diversity, Marist School, Atlanta, Georgia.
• First published in Today's Marists, 2023 Vol. 7, Issue 3.

Its general-secretary James Bhagwan said they have also been complicit.

He said a monitoring system is being planned in which faith communities will be held accountable to the commitments they make to stop gender-based violence.

"I acknowledge that for far too long, we as the churches have not only been slow to address this issue, we have also been complicit in this issue.

But we have to recognise and own that. We are looking to see how we can be more intentional in translating the statements and declarations made by our member churches into some significant movement on this issue." Read more

He said village councils and the churches have to be brought into the act and an enquiry would help expose weaknesses in the system.

Toma was speaking at a major gathering for Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers in Apia.

"We need to do this to address the impact of things on present victims, we need also to address the high tolerance of violence generally in Samoa, in Samoan life, that seems to roll on and on from generation to generation.

The Ombudsman says the enquiry's scope and focus will be worked out soon so it can start early next year.

The enquiry will involve public hearings around the country.

Toma said there is a need to be mindful of not putting survivors of violence in any more danger if they decide to come forward and tell us their stories.

Last year Samoa's Council of Churches worked with UNESCO and UN Women on a brochure detailing 16 ways to end violence against women, using biblical text.

The recently launched report on the state of human rights in Samoa revealed 46 percent of women, from ages of 15 to 49, have experienced some form of gender based violence.

This includes physical, mental and verbal abuse.

The Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland has warned the world's development goals won't be achieved unless there's attention to violence against women and girls.

In her keynote address at a Commonwealth gathering of women leaders in Apia she said eradicating the scourge should be a focus for action.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

They have recently taken part in one of three Channels of Hope workshops organised by World Vision.

The workshops were designed to provide skills to leaders of the different sectors of the society to help them in the work to reduce domestic violence in homes.

The main facilitator is professional New Zealand counselor Kara Duncan-Hewitt. She was assisted by Channels of Hope programme manager pastor Vihama Rakau and the staff of World Vision Vanuatu (WVV).

Rakau said it was the first time church leaders had addressed violence as an issue in Vanuatu's culture.

He said the leaders wanted to make a change in their own homes before trying to counsel other families.

"We had stories from participants who said when they were thinking of violence they were thinking of violence as something outside of them."

"But now they realise that they need to begin at home in their relationship to their spouse and as well as in how they treat their children"

"So, yes that's a very powerful approach in our counselling workshop because change should begin with us," said Rakau.

Development facilitator of Channels of Hope, Sharyn Wobur, says the first such workshop of its kind was held in May this year. It was attended by 35 participants, mainly faith-based leaders and their spouses and health workers.

She said the second was held at the beginning of July. It was attended also by 35 participants from the chiefs, Sanma Province, Vanuatu Family Health Association, Save the Children and four police officers from the morality and family violence units.

Wobur says one positive outcome from the workshop was that all of the different partners on Santo and Malo recognised the importance of working together to tackle the issue of family violence.

Rakau says follow up workshops will be held in September this year and in February 2017.

Source

• www.radionz.co.nz
• dailypost.vu
• Image: dailypost.vu /Jonas Cullwick

She is Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs.

Sigimanu was speaking at the opening of World Vision's three day Channels of Hope for Gender, Church Partnership Conference in Honiara.

Around 50 people from Honiara and the provinces representing churches, government ministries, non-government organisations, communities and stakeholders attended the Conference.

In the solomon Islands:

• 38% of women report their first sexual experience as having been forced
• 63% of men believe it is acceptable to hit women in certain circumstances
• 2 out of 3 women have experienced violence from an intimate partner
• The program has been implemented in over 59 countries.It aims to strengthen partnership between churches, partners and stakeholders in an effort to curb family violence.

World Vision's Channels of Hope program brings together and engages faith leaders around biblical texts that affirm the equality of women and men, the need to treat each other with respect, and to act to eliminate gender violence.

The program then equips them and members of their congregations to be activists for gender equality and against gender violence. In so doing, these faith leaders are becoming powerful agents of positive change in their communities.

The program also works with existing support services by providing links for survivors of violence, building capacity to address issues of substance abuse and conflict, and supports church and community leaders to refer survivors to services.

With over 90% of Solomon Islanders identifying as Christian, faith-based responses have been identified as particularly well-placed to tackle negative gender attitudes.

In this context, faith leaders are among the most influential members of the community.

As such they can have a significant effect on social attitudes.

Source

• solomontodaypost.wordpress.com
• worldvision.com.au
• Image: screen shot worldvision.com.au

The House of Sarah, part of the Anglican Diocese of Polynesia, is running workshops looking at how scripture can help end violence against women.

House of Sarah's gender specialist, Tupou Vere, says they've found the workshops a useful way to discuss difficult issues.

"We've found it's been extremely, extremely helpful in discussing violence against women because it involves everyone that comes to the Bible study."

She says the workshop engages youth, different age-groups, men and women, different ethnic groups.

All have a say in how they engage and how they interact with the scriptures.

Vere says the programme "gave us an opportunity to isolate or to define what is violence in a conversation, in a safe space, in a church, in a mixed audience, to actually talk about what is violence against women."

The House of Sarah also organises workshops for women to teach them basic knowledge and skills around topics such as: gender awareness, gender based and domestic violence, child abuse, rape, and sexual harassment. These women can then help more people in their community when these issues arise.

The workshops also teach UN Conventions on discrimination against women and children's rights.

In 2011 Awareness raising training workshops were held for AAW members in Archdeaconries and Episcopal units.

Training in gender issues for members of the men's fellowships and young people's groups in the Diocese was carried out with the focus of stopping violence in the family.

The House of Sarah was recently awarded a $30,000 grant from the United Nations to assist in the continuation of the courses throughout Fiji.

Source

• radionnz.co.nz
• Image: Facebook

The Christian Care centre in the Solomon Islands is run by a handful of Anglican nuns, one of whom doubles as a nurse.

The Christian Care Centre was established without Government support in 2000.

Sister Hope says the national government also has a crucial role to play in ending the violence.

The 2007 Solomon Islands Family Health and Safety Study revealed that two out of every three women will experience violence from a relative or intimate partner within their lifetime.

Last month Miss Solomon Islands Beauty Pageants raised their voice to stop domestic violence against women and children.

They raised their voice after visiting the victims of domestic violence at the Christian Care Centre at Tenaru.

The beauty pageants said, it was sad thing for them to see women and children having gone through hard life as the result of domestic violence.

"It was sad thing for us to see women seeking protection and better life at the centre caused by domestic violence," Miss Red Manson Lovida Reggie said.

Miss Honiara City Theresa Rokaia added their hearts was broken when they see the victims avoiding themselves to meet them.

• www.radionz.co.nz
• solomonstarnews.com
• Image: smh.com.au

Phil Paikea, champion for the It's Not OK campaign, said the Christmas/New Year period is the worst time of the year for domestic violence.

"I'd like to say I've seen a big change but it's still a big problem and we haven't even got to the Christmas and New Year period yet.

"It's a disgrace and a shame on this nation and we can't give up."

In Kaitaia, 1500 white ribbons were planted in the lawn of Hope Christian Centre on Commerce St.

Last year, the lawn was transformed into a sea of 1000 white ribbons but this year the church has had and extra 500 made. Pastor Howard Cross said the initiative was receiving a more positive response this year.

He said planting a ribbon would in itself not halt the domestic violence in the Far North, but it was a positive symbolic gesture and a way of speaking out.

"So this is another way to allow your voice to be heard, and to pass on a visible message to children and the wider community that violence isn't acceptable".

Source

The Northern Advocate

It is run by a handful of nuns, one of whom doubles as a nurse.

The Christian Care Centre was established without Government support in 2000.

Now working with the backing of World Vision, they take in women and children brought to them by the police, offering a shoulder, emotional guidance, healthcare and space to recover.

The centre has the look and feel of a school camp - there are rosters on the wall dividing up responsibility for cooking and cleaning among abuse survivors.

Facilities are basic, but there is a library and room for children to play.

Construction of a new building for teenagers to have their own space is under way.

Beyond a locked gate, there is no security - experience suggests if men arrive looking for their partners, they generally turn away when met with no-nonsense nuns speaking with the authority of the church.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that:

• Two out of three Solomon Islands women have suffered physical violence at the hands of their partner.
• Nearly two out of three of those aged 15 to 49 who have ever had a partner reported they had been on the receiving end of physical or sexual violence in the past year.
• More than one-third said their first sexual experience was forced.
• More than half of all arguments between married couples were found to end in violence.
• Two-thirds of men believed it was acceptable to hit women in certain circumstances.

Source

• smh.com.au
• Image: smh.com.au

The Church of Melanesia's Christian Care Centre's director, Sister Doreen Awaiasi, says she is having to turn people away as the centre is at full capacity.

Sister Doreen says awareness campaigns against gender-based violence are starting to make headway and the new Family Protection Act makes domestic violence a crime.

She says that she thinks domestic violence is increasing, " in other places where the services are not available for them, they are not talking."

"This is only one particular place in Honiara. We also have referrals from all over Solomon Islands, but then the safe home is situated in in Honiara."

Sister Doreen thinks the Family Protection Act is helping.

"I think we have listened to the voices of our women and children, this is why we have lobbied the government, other Solomon Islands women too, behind pushing the Family Bill so that the parliament would say yes to what we wanted."

In the 36 years since Independence the have been only 2 female members of Parliament.

An Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka says culture has always been seen as the major barrier for aspiring female politicians.

However, he says perceptions are changing and the biggest challenge for any candidate today is financial.

"I mean if it takes a million dollars to campaign that eliminates a lot of us, me included, we can't afford that and a lot of women can't afford that. And so it is cultural but it is also practical things in the campaign process," he says

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• Radio New Zealand
• Image: globaleducation.edu.au

He says there are other measures that can be taken to try to reduce violence in the community.

The Kiribati parliament has passed the first reading of the bill and leaders are supposed to hold consultations with their electorate before the second reading and the vote in a month.

The President Anote Tong says the bill is a deterrent against deliberate killings in the country.

His comment comes after five women recently lost their lives allegedly at the hands of their husbands or former partners.

But Mea, who is also the chairman of the Kiribati Council of Churches says they will fight the bill because it will not stop the killing in the community.

"The thing that is going to stop them, is the education. Preparing the man and wife before their marriage. To understand what love is, to give them input on what the church teaches about real love between a husband and wife and all that."

"Counselling, introducing counselling for all those who have problems. But capital punishment is not going to give any solution."

Source

• Radio Australia International
• Radio New Zealand Pacific
• Image:omtimes.omtimes.netdna-cdn.com

An Auckland academic says the real issue with violence against women in Papua New Guinea is not sorcery, but gender inequality.

Evangelina Papoutsaki says unequal gender relations which are the result of the post-colonial times and Christianity, are being used to justify violence against women.

Father Franco Zocca said earlier this year that only scientific enlightenment and a massive education effort could help overcome sorcery beliefs in the region.

But Papoutsaki does not believe the Catholic Church is helping women in the country by focussing on sorcery.

"It's nonsense that the Catholic Church declares war on witchcraft and sorcery. They should fight for equal treatment for women and gender equality," she says.

"They shouldn't attack the end result. The issue is not witchcraft, they are approaching it from the wrong perspective."

"Christianity comes in with a different belief system and sits on top of another society with different spiritual practices and they both try to struggle to exist together," she says.

"Nowadays," she says, "women need to be ashamed about their body. They need to cover it."

"All of a sudden women became objects of shame."

Associate Professor Evangelina Papoutsaki, an academic at Unitec, has worked and lived in Papua New Guinea as a journalism educator.

She has been doing research in Papua New Guinea for 10 years.

Source

• Pacific Scoop
• Image: screenshot theguardian.com

John Chow said a bruising liquor licensing battle had exhausted the brothers' patience.

"I think with the new liquor licence and the law change, we will be looking to reconsider our project opposite SkyCity," he said. "We need to balance the risks and make a commercial decision. The project had been dragging on for some time, and sometimes you lose your mojo." continue reading

Freedom from Sexual Exploitation director Elizabeth Subritzky told Parliament's justice and electoral committee the only solution to the damage that prostitution caused, and the violence it created, was to prosecute buyers of sexual services through a reform of prostitution laws.

The Prostitution Reform Act decriminalised brothels, escort agencies, and soliciting when it narrowly passed into law by one vote in 2003. Continue reading

Professor Sally Casswell of the Whariki Research Centre at Massey University said, "In terms of the survey findings the comparison I would look particularly at is the comparison with the other developed countries and in both the cases the children were more likely to say in New Zealand that alcohol and drugs were the main causes of violence,"

"I think this reflects the fairly high level of consumption we have in New Zealand."

The survey showed 13 per cent of New Zealand children blamed domestic abuse as the main cause of violence, which was higher than other developed countries.

5 most important issues for Kiwi kids

• 65% Everyone should have a good education
• 62% Everyone should be safe from crimes and also violence
• 51% Everyone should be treated the same and nobody should be treated badly
• 43% The forests, rivers and oceans should be safe from harm
• 42% Everyone should have food that is good and not too expensive

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Image: ChildFund.org.nz

Le'aupepe, who Chairman of Samoa's National Council of Churches, has urged girls and women to bite men who sexually assault them.

"In fact", he said "they should bite them hard enough to tear their skin off. This would be better, he said, than complaining about rape later."

Wendt Young says her response to his comments, which was published in the Samoa Observer newspaper, has ignited a healthy debate on the issue of rape culture.

She says it is almost a good thing these comments were made, as there is a mindset around rape that needs to be addressed.

But she says Deacon Kasiano needs to front up to the public outcry.

"I would love to see him make an apology or rethink and revisit some of the things that he said. Because I think for all the women, particularly those who have lived through abuse and rape, it is personally offensive and damaging to hear these things coming from someone in a position like his - a position of leadership and of great influence."

Read Wendt Young's Open Letter

Source

• Samoa Observer
• Radio Australia
• Radio New Zealand International
• Image:Samoa Observer

Numbers, we've learned time and time again, can be deceiving. After looking over the U.N. study, the BBC concludes that reports that excerpted this statistic failed to include the fact that the research was based on 10,000 men in six countries.

Bangladesh and Indonesia made up half the sample, and the rest were from Sri Lanka, China, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia. Clearly the size of the sample cannot be representative of the half billion male residents in Asia and the Pacific, explains the BBC: Continue reading

He says that since the Report has not yet been formally presented to the Government, he is not "prepared to go into a point by point rebuttal of the findings".

"But on the basis of what has surfaced, the UN sponsoring body should immediately withdraw the report and apologise to the people of Bougainville and by extension to the people of Papua New Guinea."

"The report cannot in any way be an accurate empirical study of certain social conditions in Bougainville and has served to engender stereotypical reporting that does not enhance the social indices of Bougainville," he said.

Source

• PNG Attitude
• Image: Radio Australia

26 representatives from six Pacific Island countries are in Suva to review national strategies and initiatives

Melissa Alvarado, from the UN Women Fiji Multi Country Office is one of the Coordinators of the Workshop, says that studies from some of the Pacific countries involved in the workshop showed over 60% of women in their country are facing violence in relationships, rating them among the highest in the world.

Source

• Radio Austrlaia
• Image: Vlad Sokhin/ChildFund Australia