After the horrific kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard this week, Christian gender justice specialist Natalie Collins says the Church must listen to women about the change that is needed in its own backyard and in society.
Everard, 33, disappeared on 3 March while walking home alone in the Clapham area of south London. Her body was discovered in woodland near Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday.
Serving Met police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has been charged with her murder.
Commenting on the case, Collins said the level of injustice experienced by women was "off the scale".
"Women and girls spend all day, every day modifying our behaviour because some men choose to harass, assault and abuse us. And while most women are murdered by someone they know, 12 per cent of women murdered by men in the UK are killed by a stranger," she said.
"The sexual harassment and objectification we see across the public sphere, and the harm done to us by boyfriends, partners and husbands is exhausting.
"The prevalence of #yesallwomen on social media exemplifies that while Sarah Everard's death is horrifying for her and her family and friends, all women are affected by a society which allows men to treat us as less than human.
"The level of injustice perpetrated by men towards women is off the scale."
But she also called for repentance in the Church, especially in light of damning revelations concerning high profile Christians like late apologist Ravi Zacharias and Jean Vanier.
"Within the Church, there is no room for dismissing these issues as 'out there, in the world', when Ravi Zacharias' offences and the harm done by Jean Vanier continue to devastate these men's victims and the many who placed their trust in them," she said.
"And there are the many more Christian men whose abuse has never, and may never, be discovered. The loss to the Church is so great - so many women prevented from serving God either due to men harming them or through sexist and misogynistic structures and theologies.
"The Church must acknowledge her culpability, repent of her sin and listen to women about what is needed to bring about change.
"There is no quick fix or definitive success strategy. This will be the long and painful work of repentance, restitution and rebuilding."
