Domestic Violence and Abuse Quickscan
On horror's head horrors accumulate.
William Shakespeare All is not quiet on the domestic front. Homes sometimes erupt in anger and abuse. And the weakest are victimized the most. Domestic violence and abuse can be physical, as in wife or child beating. Even battered husbands and abused elderly parents aren't uncommon. Sometimes it's sexual. It may even be emotional; there the cruelty is verbal, and words can hurt. In whatever form, domestic violence and abuse plunge the entire household into crisis. How can a pastor respond to these seemingly more prevalent and intensely difficult situations? Child Abuse: Physical
Charles Shepson tells this story from his days in parish ministry: "One day I received an anonymous phone call. The woman said, 'There's a child being abused in a house two doors from your church. You need to help that poor little girl.' I couldn't get any more information before she hung up." Shepson wondered, How can I verify the information? What if the woman is mistaken or malicious? What if I blow the whistle on the wrong household? So he hit on a plan. That day he began a neighborhood visitation program. He didn't go to the suspected home first — a house itself showing neglect — but rather visited another. Then, when he called on the home two doors from the church, he could say honestly, "I'm from the church, and I'm visiting homes on the block. May I come in?" They invited him in. It didn't take long, once inside, to confirm his suspicions. "The couple's little girl came into the room while we were talking," Shepson remembers, "and I tried to observe her unobtrusively. She looked about 3 years old, but she had no hair. Her legs and arms were thin and bony, and bruises were on her body. She had a dull, emaciated ...
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