Very important data-based analysis, not unrelated to my earlier interaction with @BethMooreLPM's remarks at the @ERLC National Conference. And yet, just as I commented about her remarks, the blurring of spousal and sexual abuse may be a weakness we need to keep in mind.
This study suggests that one of my hypotheses in my article was ill-advised—that Complementarian thought may contribute to spousal abuse. To the contrary, it appears that it may actually reduce spousal abuse. praisegodbarebones.blogspot.com/2019/11/intera…
And yet, with regard to sexual abuse, there remains the steady drumbeat of reported abuse by the most churchgoing population of all: people who are employed by churches and high-ranking church volunteers. But this is SEXUAL abuse—not considered according to the @9marks footnote.
So, here's the present state of my thinking. Complementarianism coupled with churchgoing appears to lower the occurrence of domestic violence. No evidence-based case links Complementarianism with an increase of sexual abuse, which affects both male and female victims.
And yet, unlike with domestic violence, it appears that churchgoing may not have the same impact in lowering the occurrence of sexual abuse. I have no clue why that would be the case, and I'd love to see the same sort of statistical analysis performed on THAT question.
One possibility: Sexual predators go to church to hunt. Perpetrators of domestic violence don't have to go to church to hunt. They do what they do at home. No need for them to go to church. Indeed, churchgoing runs counter to the sort of isolation that usually accompanies DV.
