Christian women face double discrimination

The Magi Initiative in Cambridge heard how Christian women across the world face double discrimination for being women, and for their faith. 

Bishop Philip Mounstephen told Church leaders gathered in Cambridge from across the Middle East that globally, Christian women are far more likely to be victims of religious discrimination. 

‘This includes forced marriage, which is nothing other than legalised rape,’ he said. ‘They suffer double discrimination. They are marginalised and abused, simply because they are both women and Christians. And it is getting worse.’ 

In 2018, Bishop Philip was invited by the Foreign Secretary to review the UK government’s response to the growing problem of Christian persecution. That review has now become government policy, impacting the UK’s approach to aid and trade. 

Bishop Philip says he was stunned by what his research discovered. ‘I was shocked by the scale, the scope and the severity of the phenomena. Christian persecution is global – it’s not just about Islam.  

‘And because the Christian faith is a global faith it has become a bell weather for all persecution. If Freedom of Religion and Belief fall, many other rights fall, too.’ 

Bishop Philip was addressing church leaders at the Magi Initiative, a conference hosted by Bible Society and the International Bible Advocacy Centre. 

He rated the risk to humanity from growing persecution alongside that of global warming. ‘There are two existential threats to human flourishing and harmonious communities – climate change and the systematic denial of Freedom of Religion and Belief. 

‘The time for inaction and indifference by secular western governments is over,’ he said. 

‘Thank God, this is now on the agenda of many governments in a way it has not before. Western governments are increasingly recognising just how religious this world truly is. To that rediscovery, to God be the glory. May he continue to open Western eyes, which up until now have been very closed.’