We are happy to report that both volumes with the title Abuse in World Religions are available open access now.
Volume 1 has the subtitle Articulating the Problem and contains chapters on Judaism (by Robyn Ashworth-Steen and Yehudis Fletcher), Hinduism (by Elizabeth Pulane Motswapong and Tshenolo Jennifer Madigele), Christianity (by Helen Paynter), Islam (by Rahmanara Chowdhury and Rabiha Hannan), and Sikhi (by Harjinder Kaur-Aujla and Christopher Wagstaff). The link for getting access to and for downloading this volume is here:
Volume 2 has the subtitle Towards Solutions and contains one chapter each on Judaism (by Barbara Thiede), Hinduism (by Elizabeth Pulane Motswapong and Siamisang Saudu), Islam (by Rahmanara Chowdhury and Rabiha Hannan), and Sikhi (by Harjinder Kaur-Aujla and Christopher Wagstaff). It contains two chapters on Christianity (one by Emily Colgan and David Tombs and another by Gerald O. West and Sithembiso Zwane). The link for getting access to and for downloading this volume is here:
Both volumes are edited and have a short introduction by Johanna Stiebert. It is possible also to purchase hard copies of the volumes (see the Routledge website and search for the volumes by title).
The primary aim of the two volumes is to open up a conversation about the manifold intersections between, on the one hand, a considerable range of religious traditions and, on the other, diverse forms of spiritual abuse. Spiritual abuse is more widely researched in Christian than in other religious contexts – but it is not confined to Christian contexts. Moreover, religious spaces, texts and authority figures can and have facilitated harm – but they can and have also facilitated resistance to and healing from such harm.
Bringing these books into being has not been easy. This is not only down to the emotional labour involved in such work but because there are so many restrictions concerning safeguarding, defamation and charges of libel. Of course we care about protecting survivors and contributors. We care about not retraumatizing the survivors and authors who are part of the project of which these books are part: namely, “Abuse in Religious Settings: Organizational Cultures, Public Policy and Survivors’ Experiences” (AH/W003112/1). Restrictions concerning protection against defamation and libel were, however, on occasion insurmountable. Sometimes the conflicting pressures attending the preparation for publication of these volumes were downright upsetting and frustrating. Sometimes it felt as though survivors were silenced and abusers protected. Consequently, the volumes are different from what I had first envisaged. I was very reliant on and am very grateful to all the contributors – including the ones who were not, ultimately, in the published version.
Another sadness is that Dr. Lizzie Pulane Motswapong, co-contributor to both volumes, died suddenly and unexpectedly. Lizzie was a dear friend whom I first met during my years working with her at the University of Botswana. Both volumes are dedicated to Lizzie. We hope they will be widely read, discussed, and cited and inspire more research and activism into understanding, preventing and healing from spiritual abuse.
