Abuse in World Religions : Towards Solutions

Abstract

This book draws attention to the texts, mechanisms, strategies, and initiatives that address and combat sexual(ised) spiritual abuse in five world religions. It goes beyond identifying, describing or characterising spiritual abuse in multiple religious traditions and rape culture settings, instead describing what is being done in diverse religious communities and settings to confront, address, resist, and heal from spiritual abuse. Just as none of the world religions are free from spiritual abuse, all have developed ways to detoxify, prevent, eliminate, and bring healing and justice in the face of its existence. Solution-focused activities range from analysis of sacred texts, to discussion forums, creation of self-representational visual and creative expressions, digital and other forms of activism and protest, specialist training courses, support groups, and survivor-led initiatives. The book will appeal to academics of religious studies with interest in rape culture and spiritual abuse, as well as upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates, and also religious leaders, or leaders of faith-based organisations, seeking to understand and to confront spiritual abuse and rape culture in their own communities. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.