The Sexual Abuse of African Nuns

Author(s):  
Theron N. Ford ◽  
Blanche J. Glimps

Special circumstances seem to engender the practice of sexual abuse of African nuns by African priests. The priesthood is grounded in male dominance, as is the Catholic Church. Followers of the Catholic faith are trained from an early age to be obedient and unquestioning of the priest. That stance is compatible with many sub-Saharan cultures that position males at the society's apex. The role of females in such cultures is to be obedient to males. For African females, daring to become nuns is still a relatively novel decision in some communities. The decision is fraught with incentives and consequences. Among those incentives is gaining access to education. For sub-Saharan African women access to education maybe a steppingstone to becoming a nun. There is an examination of the impact of education gained through the embrace of Catholicism, joining the sisterhood of nuns, juxtaposed to the silent epidemic of sexual violence perpetrated by priests and bishops and the realization that for many African nuns the sisterhood does not provide sanctuary from priest sexual abuse.

Author(s):  
Olha Vasylivna Vasilieva

The organizational structure of the religious organizations of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine is investigated in the article. The essence, directions, forms of activity of Catholic religious organizations in modern conditions of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine are analyzed. The peculiarities of the functioning of Ukrainian Catholic religious organizations on the occupied part of Donbas are characterized. The role of religious organizations of the Catholic faith in carrying out socially useful activities in Ukraine in the context of national security is highlighted.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tendai Chikweche ◽  
Richard Fletcher

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expand knowledge about how middle class consumers in Sub-Saharan African markets behave, focusing on the potential role of social networks and the subsequent interactions that take place between these consumers and firms. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research method approach comprising personal interviews and observations targeted at consumers and business executives was used covering all four countries. Findings – Key findings include identification of middle of the pyramid (MOP) social networks, their impact on consumer behaviour and nature of consumer and firm interactions that take place as a result of the impact of social networks. Research limitations/implications – The sample size was restricted to 80 consumers in each of the four countries. This might limit generalisability. Practical implications – The study provides managers with insights on the potential role of social networks on marketing to the MOP in Africa. Social implications – The study provides managers with insights on the potential opportunities for corporate social responsibility solutions at the MOP. Originality/value – Research into the middle class in markets other than western advanced economies is a relatively new area of study. The majority of studies on the middle class have focused on North America and Europe ignoring the merging middle class in Africa. Hence, this research expands knowledge by providing basis for exploring new insights on the emerging marketing opportunity within the middle class in Africa.


Author(s):  
Morakinyo Akintolu ◽  
Ntandokamenzi P. Dlamini ◽  
Tinuola Oladebo

This article explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on girls education in Nigeria. COVID-19 raises concerns to every nationality and has thus made way to the continent of Africa, therein Nigeria. This pandemic has a significant gendered impact on children, especially girls being out of school. The vast majority of pupils affected by this pandemic are rural girls. Despite the fact that these rural girls from poor backgrounds are already marginalised, the pandemic has highly disadvantaged them in terms of access to education, limited provision of resources and infrastructure to ensure learning is taking place even at home. While some research was found to have been done on COVID-19, none was found specifically on rural girls and education in Nigeria. This paper utilised a secondary research methodology which involved reviewing and interpreting past data to explore the impact of this pandemic on the Nigerian girl child. Among other impacts, peer pressure temptations, sexual abuse, unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, and child exploitation were found to put girls at risk. The researchers were able to suggest possible interventions for the girl child’s education in the post COVID-19 era which include the reviewing of cultural practices and customs, making education fashionable, providing extra classes, establishing programmes and initiatives to empower women, and awareness against gender-based violence. This pandemic has drawn attention to the injustices girls live under; and if these interventions are put into practice, a better life for all can be assured.


Author(s):  
Rhys Jenkins

The chapter documents the growth of economic relations between China and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), focussing on trade, foreign direct investment, Chinese construction and engineering projects, loans, and aid. The chapter highlights the way in which these are sometimes combined in resources-for-infrastructure deals. It shows the variety of different actors involved in these relationships, including state and non-state actors, on both the Chinese and African sides. It then discusses the role of strategic diplomatic, strategic economic, and commercial objectives in the growing Chinese involvement in SSA. It also addresses questions of African agency and the interests of African actors in economic relations with China. The impact of political, strategic economic and commercial factors on different types of economic relations is then analyzed econometrically.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-88
Author(s):  
Sébastien Moretti

Since 2015, the European Union has stepped up its efforts to curb irregular migration from sub-Saharan Africa through increasingly restrictive measures targeting transit countries along migratory routes, including Niger. While the EU has heralded the success of its policies to limit migration through Niger, EU migration policies have disrupted the economic system in Agadez, where transit migration has been one of the main sources of income and a factor of stability since the end of the Tuareg rebellions in 2009. This article discusses the impact that EU migration policies may have at the local level in countries of transit, and highlights the potential for these policies to fuel tensions between local and national authorities. The Agadez case study illustrates the importance of a multilevel approach to migration governance that takes into full consideration the role of local authorities and local communities in countries of transit.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-129
Author(s):  
Yuan Gao

AbstractIn modern scholarship, much ink has been spilled over the significance of St. Augustine in the history of Western philosophy and theology. However, little effort has been made to clarify the legacy of Augustine in East Asia, especially his contribution to China during the early Jesuit missionary work through the Maritime Silk Road. The present article attempts to fill this lacuna and provide a philosophical analysis of the encounter of Chinese indigenous religions with St Augustine, by inquiring into why and how Augustine was taken as a model for the Chinese in their acceptance of the Christian faith. The analysis is split into three parts. The first part reflects on the contemporary disputations over the quality of the paraphrasing work of the early Jesuits, analyzing the validity of the allegedly careless inaccuracies in their introduction of Augustine's biography. The second part analyses some rarely discussed Chinese translations of Augustine, which I recently found in the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, with particular focus on their ideological context. In particular, the paraphrased text concerning Augustine's theory of sin and the two cities will be highlighted. The third part goes a step further in exploring the reason why Augustine was considered an additional advantage in dealing with the conflicts between Christian and Confucian values. The primary contribution this essay makes is to present a philosophical inquiry into the role of Augustine in the early acceptance of Christianity in China by suggesting that a strategy of “Confucian-Christian synthesis” had been adopted by the Jesuit missionaries. Thereby, they accommodated Confucian terms without dropping the core values of the orthodox Catholic faith. The conclusion revisits the critics’ arguments and sums up with an evaluation of the impact of Augustine's religious values in the indigenization of Christianity in China.


1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
YAW OHENEBA-SAKYI ◽  
BAFFOUR K. TAKYI

Using data from the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, this study examines couples' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics in the context of their attitudes towards family planning, and the impact of these factors on the use of contraceptives. The characteristics of the husbands and their influence on wives' behaviour illustrate the role of intra-household relations between men and women and their effect on fertility-related behaviour in patriarchal African societies.


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