A woman in Zimbabwe is being hurt right now. Not somewhere far away. In this country, this year.
In the first quarter of 2026 alone, prosecutors received 7,061 sexual and gender-based violence cases nationwide, and physical abuse and domestic violence accounted for the highest number of those reported offences, with 3,505 cases. National survey data puts the picture in even sharper focus. The average lifetime prevalence of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence against Zimbabwean women aged 15 to 49 stands at 39.2%.
That’s not a statistic. That’s someone’s daughter, someone’s wife, someone sitting in your church pew every Sunday, smiling through it.
A man’s hand was never meant to be a weapon against his wife
Ephesians 5 gets quoted at almost every wedding in this nation, but usually only the verse about wives submitting. Rarely do we sit long enough on what comes right after it, the part addressed to husbands:
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church” (Ephesians 5:25, 28-29).
Christ did not raise His hand against the church. He laid down His life for her. He fed her, cared for her, cleansed her, and presented her to Himself without spot or wrinkle. That is the standard. Not control. Not fear. Not fists.
If a man says he is the head of his home the way Christ is head of the church, then he answers to Christ’s example. And Christ never once beat His bride.
Every warning sign is a mercy, not a nuisance
We need to say this plainly in the church, because silence has cost women their lives. If he has hit you once, believe what that tells you about what he is capable of. Abuse rarely stays the same size. It grows in secrecy and shrinks in the light.
You are not required to endure violence to prove your faithfulness. Suffering for righteousness is not the same as suffering because a man refuses to control his anger. Scripture never asks a woman to stay silent while she is being destroyed. It asks the church to protect her.
What we’re asking the church to do
- Believe women when they tell you what is happening in their homes.
- Stop quoting submission at women who are describing danger.
- Walk with survivors toward safety, not just toward reconciliation.
- Hold men accountable in the church the same way Scripture holds them accountable to Christ’s example.
If this is your home right now
You are not the problem. You do not have to solve this alone, and you do not have to wait until it becomes fatal to take it seriously.
- National Gender-Based Violence Call Centre: 575 (toll-free)
- Musasa Project helpline (Econet): 08080074
Come and talk to someone at BCI. We will walk with you.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).