OP:ED – Breaking the Silence: A Pastor’s Call to End Violence Against Women

Aug 28, 2025 News

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By Rev. Dr. Fitzroy Tyrrell

Kaieteur News – Wednesday morning, I sat in my study reading about a ten-year-old boy fighting for his life in Georgetown Public Hospital. His mother, Teekadai Solomon was shot dead on Charlotte Street with ten bullet wounds. His father had pulled that trigger before turning the gun on himself.

I closed the newspaper and wept.

Then I got angry – not at the perpetrator, though his actions were evil beyond words. I got angry at myself. At my colleagues in ministry. All of us who have watched this epidemic unfold while treated it as someone else’s problem.

Today, I write as a Christian leader who has been silent too long. As a husband who should have spoken sooner. As a father who owes his sons better than the world, we’re creating for them and the women they will one day love.

I’m not writing from some moral high ground. I’m writing from the valley of confession, acknowledging that my silence has been complicity. While women in our nation died at the hands of those who promised to love them, too many of us treated domestic violence as a private family matter instead of the public sin it truly is.

To the families of Teekadai Solomon and countless others whose names we’ll never know – I am sorry we failed you. To the survivors reading this who needed to hear their pastors say clearly that no scripture, no tradition, no cultural excuse justifies violence against women – I’m sorry we weren’t brave enough to speak up. To those times when we cared more about keeping marriages together than keeping people alive – God forgive us.

When Numbers Become Faces

The statistics should terrify us. According to the Guyana Police Force Crime Statistics Unit, domestic violence reports have increased by 40% over the past three years (2022-2025). The Bureau of Statistics indicates that nearly six out of every ten women murdered in Guyana die at the hands of intimate partners. Research from Caribbean Development Research Services (2024) places us among the worst in the region – one in three women experiencing physical or sexual violence from someone who claims to love them.

But Teekadai’s murder strips away the comfort of numbers. Two shots to her abdomen. One to her finger as she tried to protect herself. One to her arm. Two to her chest. Two to her forehead. One to her hip. One on her leg. This wasn’t passion or temporary insanity. This was the calculated destruction of a human being made in God’s image.

Every woman behind these statistics was someone’s daughter, maybe someone’s mother. Each carried dreams, fears, talents, and dignity that no man had the right to extinguish. Each death represents not just personal tragedy but collective moral failure.

What God Actually Says

I’ve spent thirty years studying scripture, and I can tell you without hesitation – there is no biblical justification for violence against women. None. The attempts to twist God’s word to support abuse are themselves acts of violence against truth.

Genesis tells us both men and women bear God’s image equally (Genesis 1:27), not in hierarchy. Not conditionally. Equally. When Cain killed Abel, God declared that Abel’s blood cried out from the ground (Genesis 4:10). How much louder must the blood of murdered women cry out to the God who said, “whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind” (Genesis 9:6)?

The Old Testament established cities of refuge for people fleeing violence (Numbers 35:11-15). God’s law required His people to create safe places for the vulnerable. Isaiah condemned those who “make widows their prey and rob the fatherless” (Isaiah 10:2), and Malachi declared God’s hatred for those who “cover their garments with violence” (Malachi 2:16).

Jesus revolutionized how women were treated. He defended the adulteress from those who would stone her (John 8:1-11). He honored the Samaritan woman when culture said He shouldn’t even speak to her (John 4:1-42). He chose women as first witnesses to His resurrection when their testimony wasn’t even legally recognized (Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-8). His entire ministry elevated and protected women in a society that marginalized them.

The most misused passage in Christian marriage teaching comes from Ephesians 5:22-33. Yes, it mentions wives submitting to husbands. But read the whole thing. Husbands are commanded to love wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). That’s sacrificial love, protective love, servant love. The complete opposite of dominance and control. Any man who uses this passage to justify abuse has missed the entire point of the Gospel.

Peter tells husbands to treat wives “with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers” (1 Peter 3:7). Physical differences create moral responsibilities, not opportunities for exploitation. And there’s a warning attached – dishonor your wife and God won’t listen to your prayers.

The Root and the Branches

As someone who believes in biblical truth, I know the ultimate source of this violence is sin – humanity’s rebellion against God’s design that twists everything it touches. Sin turns protection into possession, love into control, and strength into a weapon.

But we can’t just spiritualize this away. Scripture shows us that sin operates both personally and systemically. The prophets condemned individual wickedness and unjust social structures. We need both heart change and system change.

Right now, our systems enable violence. Women stay trapped because they can’t afford to leave. Police treat domestic calls as nuisances instead of emergencies. Courts hand out restraining orders like parking tickets. Communities mind their own business while neighbors die. Churches prioritize marriage preservation over personal safety.

These aren’t just social problems – they’re moral problems that require moral solutions.

What We Must Do Now

Beyond prayer and preaching (though we need both), we need specific action:

Legal reforms – We need specialized domestic violence courts with trained magistrates. Mandatory arrest policies when evidence shows abuse. Electronic monitoring for restraining orders. Real penalties that escalate with repeat offenses. Laws that recognize psychological and economic abuse, not just physical violence.

Support systems – Crisis centers in every region, not just Georgetown. Emergency housing with pathways to independence. Mobile response teams for rural areas. Witness protection for women testifying against abusive partners. Legal aid specifically for survivors.

Prevention programs – Healthy relationship education in schools. Mandatory training for police, healthcare workers, and judges. Public campaigns targeting male attitudes about rejection and relationships. Community mediation for early intervention. Treatment programs for anger and addiction.

Economic independence – Microfinance for women starting over. Emergency assistance funds. Employment protection for survivors. Job training connected to real opportunities.

Church action – Every congregation needs domestic violence response teams. Trained counselors. Emergency funds. Partnerships with professionals. Male leaders who address toxic masculinity directly. Sermons that call abuse what it is – sin.

The Church’s Moment

We in Christian leadership must lead this fight. Our pulpits should ring with condemnation of domestic violence as clearly as we condemn any other evil. Every sermon on marriage must include explicit teaching that abuse violates God’s design.

Our churches must become sanctuaries equipped for real help – not just prayer, but practical assistance. We need trained people, emergency resources, safe spaces, and professional partnerships. We can’t handle complex trauma alone, but we can be part of comprehensive solutions.

We must confront distorted theology head-on. Any teaching that uses biblical submission to justify abuse or marriage preservation to enable violence is heretical. The Gospel liberates – it never enslaves.

Our men’s ministries need complete transformation. Biblical manhood means Christ-like sacrifice and service, not domination. We must teach men that real strength protects the vulnerable, never preys on them.

Where Hope Lives

I believe the ultimate solution is Jesus Christ – not as a spiritual bypassing of practical needs, but as the power to fundamentally transform hearts and systems. Only the Gospel can replace the spirit of control with the spirit of service, turn domination into protection, and change predators into protectors.

Christ offers healing to survivors and perpetrators both. For women trapped in violence, He offers unshakeable worth and supernatural strength to break free. For men enslaved by anger and control, He offers forgiveness and the Holy Spirit’s power to change.

But let me be crystal clear – repentance requires both confession and transformation. You can’t claim to follow Christ while terrorizing the woman you promised to cherish. Real conversion produces real change, including accountability, restitution, and demonstrated growth over time.

This Is Our Moment

That little boy in the hospital will wake up to a world where his mother is gone and his father chose violence over life. What kind of society will we give him? What legacy will we leave our daughters?

President Ali said, “When families break, society bleeds.” He’s right. But when communities unite to protect their most vulnerable, healing becomes possible. When churches speak truth and act in love, transformation begins.

The editorial after Teekadai’s murder said every murdered woman “is a victim of a society that did not act in time.” That indictment includes me. It includes all of us who knew better but stayed quiet.

I’m calling on my fellow pastors to break our shameful silence. Preach against domestic violence with the same passion you bring to preaching the Gospel. Make your churches places where women can find safety and help.

I’m calling on men to examine your hearts honestly. If you struggle with anger, jealousy, or the need to control, get help now before you become tomorrow’s headlines.

I’m calling on women to know your worth in God’s eyes. You weren’t created to be anyone’s victim. There is help available. Some people will believe you and support you.

I’m calling on communities to become villages that actually protect their daughters and sisters. Your silence makes you complicit. Your action could save lives.

Most urgently, I’m calling on our nation to say with one voice: “No more.” No more silence in our pulpits. No more excuses in our courts. No more women dying at the hands of those they trusted most.

Teekadai Solomon’s blood cries out from Charlotte Street. The blood of too many women cries out from across our nation. Their voices join ancient cries for justice, demanding we finally act with the urgency this crisis deserves.

We can keep turning away, or we can finally turn toward justice. The choice is ours. The time is now.

Get Help Now:

• Guyana Police Emergency: 911
• Domestic Violence Hotline: 914 or 227-3737
• Women’s Crisis Centre: 227-3454
• Red Thread Women’s Organization: 225-7516
• Legal Aid Clinic: 225-3648

If you or someone you know faces domestic violence, reach out immediately. You’re not alone. Help exists. Your life has immeasurable value, and you deserve safety, dignity, and support.

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• Dr Fitzroy Tyrrell, Pastor, Teekadai Solomon, violence, Women

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