A Theological Perspective of Domestic Violence in Kenya

Abstract

This paper acknowledges the fact that there is escalation of domestic violence in Kenya despite efforts of the church. Theologically in both Christianity and African religion violence is not accepted and taking away life is not condoned. It recognises how in the traditional African society domestic violence was limited unlike during this era of Christianity. This paper seeks to unveil how the Nandi Addressed domestic violence in the past and how the church can borrow from this in order to incorporate some of the traditional methods of resolving this form of violence. The study adopted a qualitative research design where the perceptions of the respondents were used to gather in-depth information about the field of study. The findings were analysed and presented descriptively. The main sources of domestic violence include drug abuse, poor foundation of children, unclear marital roles and economic problems among others. The major findings of the study are that domestic violence leads to character defamation and even death of persons. Lack of economic resources underpins women’s vulnerability to violence and their inability to disentangle themselves from abusive relationships. This paper recommends that there is need to revisit teachings from traditional institutions of marriage and initiations and incorporate positive forms of teaching with teachings in Christianity for harmony in the society. This paper concludes that the society is no longer knit together due to the brake up of the traditional family and the society in general. Domestic violence in Kenya indicates the laxity and failure of the religious institutions in checking family relationships. It further recommends that there is need to go back to our traditional family settings to reflect on what is expected of the family and to derive the worth of an individual and meaning of life.