Sahar (in the photo) from Iran was forced to leave her home and young family when her husband discovered her new Christian faith. She was later arrested and spent time in prison for church activities. On her release, she was reunited with her husband and family but had to leave Iran due to the persecution she faced.
Open Doors’ research reveals that persecution affects men and women in distinct ways around the world. In 2023, Open Doors published its sixth
research report on gender-specific religious persecution. Entitled A Web of Forces, the report describes how multiple areas of persecution (or ‘pressure points’) may combine to constrict the lives of Christian men and women in contexts of persecution.
Sexual violence is a common form of persecution, with cases of sexual harassment and assault against Christian women recorded in almost all the countries in the region studied by Open Doors researchers.
This vulnerability and control are particularly evident in the digital sphere. As our report notes: “In cultures where women and girls have little privacy and men hold ultimate authority in the home, the digital world is another sphere for domestic control and abuse…Female secret believers may encounter high levels of control of their digital lives via surveillance apps, such as those designed for husbands to track and monitor their wives, and weekly or daily checks of the phones of the female members of households… There have been reports that these invasive methods of monitoring have led to forms of self-censorship, with women choosing to limit or avoid Christian materials in the home out of fear of being discovered and the severe consequences that could follow.”[1]
If Christian materials are discovered through this surveillance, the consequences for women can be horrific. Our research cites the following example, among others:
“On International Women’s Day (8 March 2022), reports emerged of 20-year-old Maria from Iraqi-Kurdistan, who was killed by her uncle and brother. With tens of thousands of followers on social media, she had long been an advocate for women’s rights and freedoms, having herself experienced forced marriage at the age of 12. The young woman was well known for her online activism, which together with her conversion to Christianity (and re-naming herself as Maria), is believed to have been a motivation for her killing.”[2]
This is one part of the vulnerability of women and girls in persecution. Most happens in context of attacks on Christians and their communities. This takes place all over the world. During such attacks, women and girls are raped, husbands and boys are killed. Women and girls in forced displacement are vulnerable to sexual assault, while men and boys are often killed or physically injured. This happens in many sub-Saharan African countries but also in the Middle East and in Asia, in particular, Myanmar.
Violations of the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief, increasing digital control, a proliferation of violent attacks by extremists and harmful gender norms all combine to restrict the lives of women and men from religious minorities. It is therefore vital that the additional vulnerability of religious minority status is recognized by governments and that policies are put in place to respond to it well.
This is an extract from the Open Doors International Advocacy Report, p. 19
[1] A Web of Forces | opendoors.org
[2] Ibid. page 17