Barrier-breaking Kenyan bishop studies gender-based violence during monthlong VTS sabbatical

[Episcopal News Service] Gaining insight into what motivates gender-based violence – particularly as it is rising against women and young girls in her home country of Kenya and across Africa – is a top priority for the Rt. Rev. Emily Awino Onyango, the first woman Anglican bishop in East and Central Africa.

“Using the example of Kenya, of late, there has been [rising numbers of] femicide, especially of young girls, so the society is becoming more unequal and more insensitive,” said Onyango, who earned a doctorate from the University of Wales in the United Kingdom, where she studied the history of education in Kenya. “Out of my research, I’ve realized that there is no change in attitude or worldview.”

Some 22.5%, or 22,000, of the 89,000 women murdered in 2022 were in Africa, according to a femicide report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Gender-based violence is pervasive in Kenya, where an estimated 34% of women have experienced violence at some point in their lives, according to the country’s most recent demographic and health survey. In January alone, over 10 women in the country were victims of femicide, or the intentional murder of women.

In September, Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan cross-country and marathon runner, died in Eldoret, Kenya, after her ex-boyfriend doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. She had competed for Uganda in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, less than a month before she was murdered.

Onyango, who serves as assistant bishop of the Diocese of Bondo in the Anglican Church of Kenya, located near Lake Victoria about 450 miles northwest of Nairobi, spent the month of October working on a research paper on gender-based violence in the world and within the church while on sabbatical at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Every year, the Center for Anglican Communion Studies at VTS hosts four people from all provinces of the Anglican Communion to apply for a monthlong sabbatical. While at the seminary, those on sabbatical hold a forum on a topic they’re working on, preach in the chapel and interact with students.

“My time here at VTS has given me time to reflect on what I have been researching and working on out of a very busy schedule,” Onyango told Episcopal News Service in an interview over Zoom. “Violence against women and girls is very rampant, even within the church, and therefore it’s better to go to the roots of the issue, and one of them is patriarchy and the need to dismantle it.”

Gender-based violence includes rape; sexual assault; physical assault; forced marriage; denial of resources, opportunities or services; and psychological and emotional abuse, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Since Onyango became a bishop in 2021, five other African women have been elected Anglican bishops. In January, the women – collectively known as the “Africa Six” – met at St. Paul’s University in Nairobi to discuss Christian leadership in the 21st century. They also spoke out on what they and the United Nations have called a “triple threat” to Africa: gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. Because the day of the gathering was on a Thursday, the bishops and in-person participants wore black in observance of the Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from sexual and gender-based violence.

Over the past year, the Africa Six has been working on establishing the Center for Leadership Training in Anglicanism & Research in Africa at St. Paul’s University to train future African women church leaders, both clergy and lay. Expected to launch in January 2025, the center aims to help empower women as they build new leadership skills, to equip them to strategically dismantle patriarchal systems that dominate most societies. The center’s mission will also address poverty and help women earn enough income to sustain themselves.

“Educating women and giving them skills directly brings change in the society in Africa … if they have the skills, it will empower everybody. If you are educated, you can have some level of independence,” Onyango said.

To help accomplish these goals, “we need to dismantle the cultural and modern patriarchy and stop interpreting the Bible from a patriarchal perspective, or we won’t have a society to talk about in the future,” Onyango said. “We must instead interpret Scripture in an empowering way.”

One obstacle, Onyango said, is that many men and women with traditional, colonial-oriented mindsets still believe that women shouldn’t have leadership roles in church.

“It’s a big struggle when even many women are skeptical of women bishops. That’s why we the Africa Six encourage each other amid this journey, and why we need to establish a leadership sector for women leaders,” she said. “I encourage fellow sisters everywhere to pray with us, to journey with us and support us as we fight our own battle in Africa.”

While at VTS, Onyango has also been working with the Anglican Communion Science Commission as it led a consultation Oct. 28 – Nov. 1 on how science can contribute to and be informed by Christian theology and mission. The commission formally launched in 2022 at the Lambeth Conference. Earlier in October, Onyango held a forum on gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS in Kenya. She also preached on the subject at the seminary’s Immanuel Chapel.

“At Virginia Theological Seminary, we are delighted to provide hospitality for visiting Bishops from around the Anglican Communion. With a library, a refectory, and a chapel, we trust these are moments of deep renewal and connection,” the Very Rev. Ian Markham, dean and president of VTS, told ENS in a written statement.

“For the students and faculty, it creates an opportunity to engage in-depth with a different perspective from around the communion and understand the challenges our guests are dealing with in their ministries, such as the impact of global warming, poverty, and gender inequality,” he said. “The real gift to students comes from these conversations and moments of fellowship with our visitors during meals and worship. Students often stay in touch with these visitors, and these relationships continue beyond their time at seminary.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.