Prey Tell

March 1, 2021

With this most recent work, author and sought-after speaker Bluhm (She Dreams; Never Alone) writes an examination of the way society views and oftentimes reviles women who are the victims of sexual abuse and assault. Bluhm looks at the current whys and hows concerning the ways we silence and demean women, as well as asserting that we all are responsible for speaking up and supporting victims when they choose to tell their stories. While Bluhm examines the soul-deadening effects of assault and abuse in the secular workplace, she also takes to task the religious hierarchy that protects perpetrators and condemns victims; she maintains that this is the antithesis of Jesus's teachings, which emphasize that women are equals in the Christian community and are to be believed and valued. Drawing from her ministry experience, the author tells how faith and justice are often intertwined. Bluhm's compelling arguments are given gravitas by recent, headline-grabbing cases in which the victims' abuse was shockingly twofold: first by the original perpetrators, and then by the very systems which were supposed to protect them. VERDICT A welcome book offering an important wake-up call to the Christian community and beyond.--Gail Eubanks, Univ. of Missouri, Springfield

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