No words for this: The task of centering the experience of women survivors in faith-based care abuse reform

Introduction

This article argues for a feminist theological methodology that places a central emphasis on the experience of women survivors as a primary lens for contemplating reform in faith-based care abuse. Set in the aftermath of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry in Aotearoa New Zealand (2018-2024), whose final report, Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light  was released on 24 July 2024, the article situates theology within the pain, trauma, and truth-telling of survivors.^[1] 

Why should women’s experiences be a primary lens? To achieve more equitable, just, and transformative outcomes and because women are involved, requiring their voices to be heard and agency about outcomes.

This article does not propose that the problem of abuse in faith-based institutions will ever be solved – nor will it ever be solved in wider society. The task is therefore not to imagine a “once and for all solution” but to accept the responsibility for committing ourselves to best practices, such as in ministry vetting, safeguarding, pastoral care for survivors, investigating the current culture of our churches (are they patriarchal, marked by clericalism and colonialism or have they dismantled these oppressive structures?) and supporting accountability and rehabilitative efforts of perpetrators even if the church is not directly involved in this work.^[2]

Methodology

There is no one feminist theological methodology, however I argue that any feminist methodology should place a central emphasis on women’s experiences. In this case, with a broad range of topics traversed, I contend that the Catholic Social Action methodology used by liberation theologians of “see, judge, and act”, using women’s experiences, is an appropriate methodology, if reinterpreted through a lens of solidarity and survivor witness, for responding to abuse against women in faith-based care.^[3] This abuse may have occurred when they were children or young people. The “see, judge, act” approach was endorsed by Pope John XXII in his Papal Encyclical Letter, Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) in 1961.^[4]

In adopting the “see, judge, act” methodology, it is clear some adaptations would be needed. First of all “see” should also include “listen” and “be with”. “Judge” and “act” (or “suggest proposals for action”) should always have the input and solidarity with survivors and be carried out with the humility of being one perspective. The author notes that in addition to a feminist lens, a mana wāhine,^[5] post-colonial feminist lens and Pacific lens in particular would also be valuable given the predominance of Māori and Pacific victims of abuse in care as well as the wisdom that comes from those cultural milieu.^[6] In doing so, it acknowledges that feminist theology has in the past rightfully been accused of being racist for its whitewashing of female experience.^[7]

“See, Judge, Act” methodology utilising women’s experience.

The Royal Commission utilised the survivor experiences of more than 3,000 survivors producing numerous case studies to highlight different types of abuse, different contexts of abuse and different impacts.

The Commission was chaired by a former Judge and 3 lawyers sat on the Commission along with a disability advocate. Of the 5 members of the Commission, 3 were women including the Chair. The groundbreaking text Feminist Judgments of Aotearoa New Zealand Te Rino: A Two-Stranded Rope^[8] talks about the importance of recognising women’s stories and experiences so that these experiences become legal truths.^[9]  During the course of the Commission it was evident that the Commissioners were listening with care and compassion to the female witnesses and those of other genders. Having a Pākehā^[10]woman commissioner, a Māori woman commissioner, and a Pacific woman commissioner meant that they were able to bring their experiences to the table in order to evaluate key learnings from the different accounts.

Difficulty in bringing women’s evidence to the fore

It is important to stress the difficulty in accessing the survivor experience in the theological task due to epistemic injustice experienced in the past acting as a quieting or silencing factor. While the topic of epistemic injustice can be teased out in a number of ways, Miranda Fricker says at its heart:

any epistemic injustice wrongs someone in their capacity as a knower of knowledge, and thus in his [or her] capacity as a giver of knowledge, as an informant…where it goes deep it can cramp self-development, so that a person may be, quite literally, prevented from becoming who they are.^[11]

Furthermore, internalised stigma can also cause one to be reluctant to speak. Intersectional oppressions: class, gender, race, poverty, poor education, disability, mental health issues can lead to or compound this epistemic injustice.^[12]

How does using a postcolonial lens take Māori and Pacific experiences into account?

A post-colonial lens makes explicit how abuse in care intersected with wider structures of colonisation, racism, and cultural dispossession. As Callaghan’s work illustrates, post-colonial feminist theology as with Kaupapa Māori theory^[13] insists that any liberative project in Aotearoa New Zealand must confront the layered oppressions that Māori women in particular have faced.^[14] Callaghan argues Mana Wāhine Theory^[15] and post-colonial feminist theory must take into account “the impact of colonization on women and the way in which women’s roles and status were denied and their knowledge marginalized.”^[16] I argue the same can be said for Pacific women.

Applied here, this perspective challenges the church to acknowledge that abuse in care cannot be disentangled from histories of forced assimilation, institutional racism, and patriarchal colonial authority.^[17] It asks whether reforms simply repair institutions for continuity, or whether they dismantle the colonial thinking and practices that produced vulnerability in the first place. Substance and voice must be given to women’s status and knowledge.

What reforms do you think need to be made as a result?

Aotearoa New Zealand Presbyterian Minister Rev Glynn Cardy recently gave an online sermon referring to the Being Theology work of theologian Revd Dr Sam Wells. Cardy posed the question based on Wells’ theological work, “Are we ready for a problem that doesn’t fix itself? That doesn’t have a solution?”^[18] Abuse, sexual or otherwise is one such problem. Unfortunately, notwithstanding any church’s best safeguarding efforts and vetting tests, abuse will never be stamped out 100% in any of our faith-based institutions or in society at large. We know this because this has been our experience in the world to date. This does not mean that we give up. We owe it to our tamariki (children) and our rangatahi (young people) not to. We must do what we can do and when abuse occurs, focus on how we can best navigate the healing justice journey with those who have been abused.

The reforms that can be made in response to women’s experiences arising out of the Royal Commission are multiple and evolving. This is a healing or post traumatic re/making, justice, accountability and sometimes reconciliation journey that is ongoing. Because cultural change is required for faith-based churches to become more pilgrim-like and survivor-centric and patriarchal, colonial and clerical attitudes must be addressed, that will not happen over-night. The pace of change may be too slow for some but in order to be long-lasting and bred into the DNA of the church, changes will take time. This does not mean that in individual cases of abuse, that survivors are prevented from reasonably timed responses to their claims.

In analysing a new vision for Aotearoa New Zealand in response to the Royal Commission below are some ideas for reform that are by no means comprehensive but are starting points.

• The abuse that has occurred in faith-based institutions has occurred elsewhere in society. This requires a whole society approach looking not only at church culture change but societal culture change including addressing factors such as patriarchy, rape culture and general misogyny, colonialism, and ablism.
• A pivot away from ‘perfect society” theology that supports clericalism towards a pilgrim church that is self-critical and self-aware.^[19]
• Open-minded support of theological undertakings from all levels into how to faithfully respond to the abuse crisis that is addressed to the public, the academy and the church.
• Examining what input and guidance international human rights instruments and domestic human rights law can and must have.
• Given that abuse will occur again in the future despite best efforts to prevent it, creating a culture where people feel comfortable to speak out and be heard is key (this includes survivors but also others who “spot gaps” in institutions), as well as having good pathways for complaints and developing survivor-centric responses.
• Provide or outsource pastoral care to survivors both during the complaint process as well as providing after care. This may be tricky where people have lost faith in the church in which case outsourcing to third parties would seem appropriate.
• Lamenting what has happened as a church and meaningfully apologising for the part we played is central. I recently viewed the Service of Lament held in the Anglican Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch in 2024 where a plaque commemorating survivors was given to the Church and survivor stories told by survivors. Not only did the Bishop of Christchurch attend and participate in the service but also the Archbishop of Aotearoa New Zealand.^[20]
• Different cultural perspectives of meeting and addressing the harm should be considered and applied.^[21]
• Different cultural modalities of healing such as Māori and Pacific may be helpful for those of other cultures including NZ European, not just their own cultures.
• Trauma-informed pastoral care will also be vital as will spiritual survival practices.^[22]
• It would be helpful for regular Talanoa (meetings, conversations) among theologians, clergy and practitioners across the churches to discuss case studies, knowledge learnt and so that those in the field are not working in isolation.
• supporting self-determination of Māori and Pacific people to address harm and find solutions.
• Working with those who harm, acknowledging this is a contested space.
• In South Australia there is a space called the Saint Peter’s sacred Space in Clare Valley, Australia. In the space there is a restored chapel and garden that has been specifically adapted as a healing and reflective space for those whose faith or spiritual sense has been affected by institutional abuse, including church-related abuse. The chapel has been intentionally stripped of traditional religious symbols like crosses, with only a uniquely designed Greek cross—decorated with Indigenous art—remaining, to minimize possible triggers for survivors. The stated aim of the sacred space is to provide spiritual support and a place to reflect, pray, and heal, offered not only to Christians but to anyone disheartened or disconnected from faith.^[23] These places can provide a spiritual home for survivors who bereft of their faith have no place to go. It is my wish that there should be such a space in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Conclusion

In the Royal Commission’s Final Report, survivors shared “their moemoeā (dreams) for the next generation where every child, young person and adult is loved, safe and cared for in a manner that supports their growth and development into a thriving contributor to society.”^[24]

To move toward the vision, women survivors’ experiences must from an ethical and best practice stand-point, shape the solutions for repairing the harm caused by abuse and improving institutional systems and responses. Only through this survivor-led and inclusive, intersectional approach can we begin to honour the past, enact genuine accountability, serve healing and create structures and renew our faith communities in ways that safeguard dignity and flourishing for generations to come.

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Notes

^[1] Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry,  Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light (Crown Copyright, 2024).

^[2] See Stephen Crittenden, ed., Health and Integrity in Church and Ministry: An ecumenical conversation on the task of rebuilding and renewal after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 27-29 August 2018, Melbourne, Australia: Conference Papers (Franciscan Friars (Australia) health-and-Integrity-conference-papers.pdf

^[3] David Tombs cites Edward Cleary who expands: “The goal of Catholic Action was for lay persons to influence the secular milieu in which they worked. In small cells or groups they were to see and describe the situation in which they worked or lived, to judge the situation in light of Christian principles (such as justice and charity), and then to act realistically to correct or enhance their milieu. It is worth noting that this model of Catholic Action is sometimes thought to imitate communist organisation and tactics. It was no accident that the organizational structure of the French model of Catholic Action resembled the interlocking cells of the Communist Party. But the methodology of see-judge-act (even if it owed something to Communist praxis) came from Thomas Aquinas’s teaching on prudence” Edward Cleary, Crisis and Change: The Church in Latin American Today (Maryknoll, Ny: Orbis Books, 1985), 4, cited in David Tombs, Latin American Liberation Theology, (Boston and Leiden: Brill, 2002), 59.

^[4] Pope John XXII, Mater et Magister: On Recent Developments of the Social Question in the Light of the Christian Teaching (15 May 1961), < http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_15051961_mater.html> (23 August 2019), para 236.

^[5]The prestige and authority of women.

^[6] In doing so it acknowledges that feminist theology has in the past been criticised for white washing and overt or latent racism. See for example, Linda Hogan, “Resources of a Feminist Ethic: Women’s Experience and Praxis,” Feminist Theology, 1993, Vol.1 (3), 82-99 at 87.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Elisabeth McDonald, Rhonda Powell, Mamari Stephens, Rosemary Hunter, Feminist Judgments of Aotearoa New Zealand Te Rino: A Two-Stranded Rope (Hart Publishing, 2017).

^[9] Ibid., 35-38.

^[10]A non-Māori person, generally used to describe a person who identifies as NZ European.

^[11] Miranda Fricker, Epistemic Injustice: Power & The Ethics of Knowing (Oxford University Press, 2007), 5.

^[12] Kimberle Crenshaw (1989) “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics,” University of Chicago Legal Forum: Vol. 1989, Article 8.
Available at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8

^[13] Callaghan adopts Graham Smith’s definition of Kaupapa Māori theory which is that it has “three important components: conscientization (which Smith defines as revealing the reality), resistance (defined as oppositional actions), and praxis (defined as reflective change). The term “Kaupapa Maori” describes ‘the practice and philosophy of living a ‘Maori’, culturally informed life.’ Kaupapa Maori theory ‘has evolved out of Maori communities as a deliberate means to comprehend, resist and transform… the ongoing erosion of Maori language, knowledge and culture as a result of colonisation.’  Moeawa Callaghan, Te Karaiti in Mihingare Spirituality: Women’s Perspectives, PhD thesis (University of Auckland, 2011), 18, citing Graham Smith, “The Development of Kaupapa Maori: Theory and Praxis”, 27, 37-38, 453. PhD thesis (University of Auckland, 1997).

^[14] Callaghan, Te Karaiti in Mihingare Spirituality,18-23.

^[15] Mana Wahine Theory is a Māori theoretical framework based on mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) that is an ongoing process as it is shaped by different people determining what its criterion are. The framework challenges colonial patriarchal structures. Callaghan cites Leonie Pihama Smith who is renowned for her work in this area. Ibid., 22, Callaghan citing Leonie Pihama Smith, “Tihei Mauri Ora: Honouring Our Voices: Mana Wahine as a Kaupapa Maori Theoretical Framework”, 263. (PhD – Education, University of Auckland, 2001). Copy held at Kinder Theological Library, (N.B. the page numbers may differ from the original).

^[16] Callaghan, Te Karaiti in Mihingare Spirituality, 23.

^[17] Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry, He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu from Redress to Puretumu Torowhānui Report, Ch 1.2 Understanding the Tūkino, The Journey for Māori (Crown Copyright, December 2021) The journey for Māori | Abuse in Care – Royal Commission of Inquiry

^[18] Text of online sermon Rev’d Glynn Cardy ‘Being With” can be found here: Being With, 31/8/25.

^[19] Stephen Crittenden, “Introduction,” in Health and Integrity in Church: An Ecumenical conversation on the task of rebuilding and renewal after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 27-29 August 2018, Melbourne, Victoria, Conference Papers, xiv.

^[20] Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, A Liturgy Of Lament – Anglican Life, Anglican Life, c5/9/24

^[21] See for example, Leonnie Pihama, Ngaropi Cameron, Mereana Pitman, Rihi Te Nana, Whāia te ara Ora: Understanding and Healing the Impact of Historical Trauma and Sexual Violence for Māori (Māori and Indigenous Analysis Ltd, 2021).

^[22] Leonie Pihama, Linda Smith, Ngaropi Cameron, Rihi Te Nana, Hinewirangi Kohu-Morgan, Herearoha Skipper & Tania Mataki, He Oranga Ngākau: Māori Approaches to Trauma Informed Care (Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato, 2020); Karen A. McClintock, Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care: How to respond when things are falling apart (Fortress Press, 2022). See also Karen O’Donnell, Survival: Radical Spiritual Practices for Trauma Survivors (SCM Press, 2024); and Karen O’Donnell on Trauma Theology, Spiritual Practices, and Hope, Around The Fireplace Substack, 13/3/25.

^[23] Luke Radford, Clare Valley’s Sacred Space garden helps to heal the wounds of abuse – ABC News, ABC News, 21/4/19.

^[24]Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry, Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ,  Executive summary | Abuse in Care – Royal Commission of Inquiry (Crown Copyright, 2024) at [57].

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References

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to Puretumu Torowhānui Report, Ch 1.2 Understanding the Tūkino, The Journey for Māori (Crown Copyright, December 2021) The journey for Māori | Abuse in Care – Royal Commission of Inquiry 

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darkness to light (Crown Copyright, 2024).

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Crenshaw, Kimberle (1989) “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black

Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics,” University of Chicago Legal Forum: Vol. 1989, Article 8.

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Around The Fireplace Substack, 13/3/25.

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© Sarah Pidgeon, 2026. This article is a part of a series in collaboration with the FTN (Feminist Theology Network). FTN social media: https://www.instagram.com/feministtheologynetwork/ and @feministtheology.bsky.social

This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

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