Are women safe in the Church of England?

Given recent news stories about sexual harassment and assault of women in the Church of England and as a campaigner for equality for women in the Church, I am frequently asked whether women are safe in the Church of England.

As both a feminist and a long-term member of the Church, I reply to that question with an emphatic Yes and an emphatic No.

First, the answer is Yes because women are not generally vulnerable in the same sense that children and some adults may be.  We are perfectly capable of reporting assaults and misconduct to the appropriate authorities, both within the Church and externally in the case of crimes.

But the answer is also an emphatic No because women find it difficult to report assaults and harassments in the Church.

This is partly due to inadequacies and failures in process but is mostly attributable to a dangerous culture of deference that affects everyone, but especially women in the Church.

Women have only relatively recently been allowed to take leadership roles in the Church and it is still permissible for churches to say that they will not have a female vicar or bishop and to teach that women should be under the authority of men.  In order to be ordained, people are required explicitly to accept that this discrimination exists and work with it.  And it’s impossible to take on a senior role, including being a Dean of Women’s Ministry – someone who is supposed to be able to speak truth on behalf on women to their bishop, without saying that you accept this discrimination.  Anyone who has the temerity to challenge these arrangements, for example by saying they would like to see full equality for women in the Church, is likely to be marginalised and gaslit by being labelled troublesome or euphemistically ‘too prophetic.’

Against this background in the Church, there’s a wider culture that puts pressure on women to be nice, keep smiling and not make a fuss.  Reports, when they are heard, are often dismissed by describing them as banter or, as in one of the cases relating to the Bishop of Liverpool, ‘unboundaried behaviour’ – making the alleged abuser sound like a mischievous puppy.

Women look at cases such as those of the two complainants against the Bishop of Liverpool and see how they were handled and are discouraged from bringing their own cases forward.  One complainant said that the National Safeguarding Team dissuaded her from bringing her case – saying it was unlikely to be successful and pursing it would cause her trauma because the process is ‘not survivor-focused.’ In fact, 60% of clergy discipline measures, according to a recent article by Madeleine Davies in the Church Times, end up being dismissed.

And then, in the case of the second complainant, the Bishop of Warrington - she seems to have had to ‘go on study leave’ for 18 months, while the Bishop of Liverpool remained in post. One can only wonder how long this would have continued without recent media revelations.

One clear indicator that process is inadequate and failing is that people feel so upset and frustrated by their experiences in trying to report abuse and see appropriate follow up action taken, that they feel they have no option but to go to the press. It’s hard to believe that any clergy, let alone a bishop, would do this without having exhausted all other options.

Of course, if these were one-off issues of abuse and poor handling of the reporting and response, that would be one thing.  But I would say that the great majority of women in the Church have experienced instances of sexism, discrimination and harassment.  Women simply choose to keep quiet about their experiences.  Unless they are in a safe space with other women when they let loose and share their stories - stories they would not retell if male colleagues were there. 

I myself experienced an incident of sexual harassment ten years ago that I reported and was told that my concern was noted. Then I heard absolutely nothing, nor noticed any action being taken with regard to those concerned.  I didn’t pursue the matter, but I’ve always thought that it was an unsatisfactory experience and have worried that others might have had a similar bad experience on another occasion.

Many questions remain to be answered - both about specific cases and process and culture.  But, in the meantime, action could be taken to make women safer in the Church of England. 

First, we should appoint a Lead Bishop for Justice for Women in the Church of England. This should be a person who has both the courage and conviction to speak truth to power and to be an advocate for women in the Church. Hopefully this person could also help change the culture, advocating to find a way to bring existing institutional discrimination to an end and proactively encouraging women to share their experiences without fear of consequences.

There’s much evidence that understandings of male privilege and that women are lesser than men are drivers of abuse and violence against women and girls. This is a huge problem in our world.  Many women and girls still face discrimination and experience domestic and sexual violence, lower pay, lack of access to education, and inadequate healthcare. Globally around 287,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2020 (WHO, 2024). It is hard for the Church to speak out about this, if we are not able to support women in our own Church who report abuse.

Of course, it takes time to change culture but we need urgently to make this happen - so that our Church is truly a place where women know that sexual abuse and harassment will not be tolerated or trivialised.