Standing With the Marginalized: Violence Against Women Is a Crisis We Cannot Ignore

Each year, about 47,000 women and girls around the world are killed by intimate partners or other family members, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. That staggering figure represents a silent crisis that often remains hidden behind closed doors.

Shandelle M. Henson, professor emeritus of mathematics at Andrews University, recently reminded her congregation that these deaths are not isolated tragedies. Instead, they amount to a global mass killing.

“If these people were all in one geographic location being bombed, we would see that this is a Gaza-magnitude mass murder, based on immutable characteristics, occurring every single year,” Henson said.

For TEAM, her words carry a deep resonance. Our mission is to confront injustice and advocate for equality within the Seventh-day Adventist Church and beyond. The violence women endure is not only physical—it is also embedded in systems that exclude them from leadership, diminish their voices, and justify inequity under the guise of “culture.”

“This in no way diminishes the inconceivable atrocities in Gaza, or the slaughter of any other group, all of which deserve our outrage,” Henson noted. “But when we think of marginalized peoples, we should remember that enormous marginalized group that cuts across all nationalities and ethnicities: women.”

At TEAM, we believe the church must stand at the forefront of addressing this crisis. That means:

• Breaking the silence: Naming violence against women as sin and refusing to normalize it.

• Advocating for equality: Ensuring women have full access to leadership and ministry roles.

• Supporting survivors: Building congregations that are safe places for those who experience abuse.

• Challenging harmful narratives: Rejecting cultural excuses that perpetuate oppression and injustice.

  
  

The story of God’s people—from the Exodus to the ministry of Christ—reminds us that God sides with the marginalized, the oppressed, and the silenced. As Henson thanked a fellow Sabbath leader for pointing to Moses and Christ as champions for the vulnerable, we are reminded of our calling to do the same.

As TEAM, we remain committed to amplifying these truths: that women’s lives matter, that equality is not optional, and that the gospel calls us to act with justice and compassion.