Abstract
The COVID-19 global pandemic negatively transformed social, religious and economic life globally. Countries implemented national lockdowns among other measures to mitigate against the spread of the pandemic. Zimbabwe is among the countries that pronounced a national lockdown. The national lockdown accelerated the already existing gender-based violence (GBV) scourge. GBV manifested in various forms especially by people that are intimate partners to the victims. The new environment caused by COVID-19 has proven that intimate partner violence (IPV) remains one of the key causes of GBV. Written from a public pastoral care perspective, this article examines the COVID-19 pandemic national lockdown in Zimbabwe and how it provided a convenient environment for the acceleration of IPV. The church is caught unaware, and its role is barely visible as a key microcosm of society. in a view of this, the following three questions emerge: first, what does it mean to be church in a real GBV situation caused by COVID-19?; second, what public pastoral care roles could the church frame to mitigate GBV by IPV in the COVID-19 situation?; and third, how could such public pastoral care responsive roles impact the broader community by not being exclusively church based? The article seeks to address these questions by, first, providing the introduction and background to COVID-19 and GBV in Zimbabwe. Second, it discusses IPV as a key form of GBV and its implications on COVID-19 national lockdown environment. Third, it analyses what it means to be church in an environment of COVID-19. Fourth, it proposes some public pastoral responsive care roles by the church with a transformative impact on the broader community and provides a conclusion.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundThe COVID-19 global pandemic is unparalleled and has affected the day-to-day unfolding of human life in many countries
Gender-based violence (GBV) already existed before COVID-19 in Zimbabwe
Intimate partner violence is a key form of GBV, and the recent national lockdown saw a sharp increase in intimate partner violence (IPV)
Summary
The COVID-19 global pandemic is unparalleled and has affected the day-to-day unfolding of human life in many countries. The section argued for operational ecclesiology in the context of practical ministry It argued that the church must not be defective but rather operational by holistically dealing with public contextual issues that affect people such as IPV as a form of GBV. If public theology is not imbedded in the context of the phenomena, it becomes irrelevant and only scratching the surface without addressing the complex nature of societal issues This entails that IPV in Zimbabwe has two contexts: first, the Zimbabwean culture and gender norms as a context that needs critical attention; and second, the COVID-19 is another context that should determine the framing of public pastoral care ministries without contradicting the WHO and country health guidelines. This will assist some women with abusive husbands to be less dependent on men during this pandemic
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
