Churches, Dignity, Gender: the Istanbul Convention as a Matter of Public Theology in Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract This article is based on a case-study of the public debate in Ukraine on the so-called Istanbul Convention ‘on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence’. The debate polarizes churches and more liberal parts of society. The author seeks for the roots of the churches’ position not to address the structural causes of domestic violence as gender-based violence. How does this relate to embracing dignity of the human being as a core principle of the Maidan revolution and of Christian anthropology? Influential documents on moral theology play a detrimental role. The author makes suggestions to address more adequately domestic violence in public theology in Ukrainian context. The coordinates of the proposal are the need for a gender-critical dignity discourse, the need for reimagining the sacramental theology of marriage, and insights for the methodology of a public theology that wants to be both deeply engaged and truly academic.