In January 2018 Rachael Denhollander was catapulted into the international eye through her powerful speech in the case brought before the American courts regarding Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics’ doctor, one of the most prolific sexual abusers in recorded history. Perhaps you remember the startling account of her bravery and her strength in fighting for all victims of sexual abuse.  

She wrote down and published her own story the following year.  This book is both powerful and bone-chilling. Rachael charts her story of sexual abuse at the hands of a trusted doctor, followed by the traumatic and long-lasting devastation it caused and her long fight to bring Nassar to justice. Throughout the narrative it is clear Rachael was not merely seeking personal justice; rather, she sought to give voice and hope to her fellow victims and to protect young women not only from Nassar himself but from the sexual abuse still pervading society without challenge. Undoubtedly the most startling moment of the entire book comes amidst her address to the court where, despite all she has endured at the hands of this wicked man, she offers to him the gift of the Gospel. This is a book that is bursting with bravery and with grace. Denhollander’s words to Nassar poignantly reflect her Saviour the great deliverer,

“Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the Gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace, and hope, and mercy, where none should be found. And it will be there for you. I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt, so that you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more.”

For me, this book also highlighted and provoked something more. The title of her autobiography “What is a girl worth?” is a direct quote from her address in court on the 28th January 2018. The case, she argues, was about far more than justice in this one scenario, rather it was about the worth and value of the young women of the USA. What is a girl worth? It is a haunting question considering the devastating abuse charted in this book.  Perhaps it is not a question that you have often pondered, what is a girl worth, perhaps you believe it is obvious. Can I challenge you briefly on what you think a girl is worth? On a simple and superficial level, what does your language and choice of words say about what is a girl worth? How often have you accused someone of running like a girl? Or screaming like a girl, or throwing like a girl? What do those phrases even mean? My little sister can run a mile in under 8 minutes, a pace she can keep up for 3 miles. She runs like a girl; strong, fast and determined. Our words and tone can indicate that “like a girl” is something to be ashamed of; something to be mocked rather than admired and praised.

The question “what is a girl worth?” is not only relevant when we talk about instances of sexual abuse, but it permeates into our daily life. Invisible Women, by Caroline Criado Perez, is a book that seeks to show the data bias at the heart of our society. From the size of a piano keyboard, linked to the average man’s handspan, to the dosage and discontinuing of trialling of drugs that didn’t work on men without considering the different physiology of the female, society designs a shockingly large amount of its functions around an assumed average: a male.  It’s everywhere; car safety: designed again for males, failing to account for the height and body shape differences of half the population, PPE, police and army uniform that is designed as unisex but this in fact means designed for males. These facts cause physical harm to women across the world. Sexual assault, abuse, lower pay, office temperature (offices are on average five degrees too cold for women whose metabolic rate is usually 35% lower than their male counterpart), smartphones sizes, what is a girl worth? The answer of the world is shockingly clear: apparently less than their male counterparts.

“The presumption that what is male is universal is a direct consequence of the gender data gap. Whiteness and maleness can only go without saying because most other identities never get said at all. But male universality is also a cause of the gender data gap: because women aren’t seen and aren’t remembered, because male data makes up the majority of what we know, what is male comes to be seen as universal. It leads to the positioning of women, half the global population, as a minority. With a niche identity and subjective point of view. In such a framing, women are set up to be forgettable. Ignorable. Dispensable - from culture, from history, and from data. And so, women become invisible.”

Invisible women. Your sisters, mothers, daughters, friends, grandmothers, wives, in the eyes of the world, invisible, ignorable, dispensable. What about the church? Are we living out the counter-cultural care and value Christ placed upon those the world forgets? The early church saw a significant influx of women being converted, women who for the first time in their lives were given equal footing with man. Both sexes described as fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8v17), both made in the image of God (Genesis 1v27), both given the same kingdom building mandate (Genesis 1v28). Women such as Lydia, Phoebe, Junia, and Priscilla are all named and praised by Paul as fellow kingdom builders in the early church. Yet today the place of women in church and society continues to be a point of debate and contention in the church, particularly amongst circles that claim to be reformed. If you want some practical examples of what these circles think a girl is worth, have a scroll through twitter to see the vitriol levelled against Amy Byrd’s latest book (Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood- an interesting read, I don’t agree with all her theoretical outworking but some she makes valid points that should be considered). In 2019 Girls Adventure Camp ran a series of talks on remarkable women of the bible starting with Eve, her status as ezer, fellow kingdom builder, image bearer. This turned out to be one of the most powerful things for these young girls, some of whom said to me, “It’s just cool that we are actually equal to boys”. I’ll be honest, I was flabbergasted, at the age of 13, living in the 21st century, it was a revelation that they were in fact worth as much as their brothers?! These girls had imbibed the messages and assumptions they saw and had concluded that the answer to “what is a girl worth?” was “less than a boy”. I’m not saying that anyone explicitly taught these girls that they are less than males, what I’m suggesting is that by not explicitly telling them and their brothers the glorious truth about the worth and work God has for his daughters, we allow the world’s perception of women to seep into the church. If we fail in this, we are in danger of raising women who don’t see that they are equal to their brothers, that they are called just as their brothers are to be image bearers, kingdom builders and earth subduers, and it is not good for the body as a whole when one half of its members do not realise the scope and worth of their calling. The church is the one place that should realise and boldly hold forth what women truly are. The bible does not speak of invisible women. Instead it holds forth brave, Christ-like characters: Rahab, Ruth, Esther, Deborah, Jesus’ mother Mary, Lydia of Philippi, Phoebe, to name but a few. All involved in key kingdom building. Lives that teach both men and women of Christ-like living. Perhaps as a male reading this you are unsure of all that I have written, in her book Perez states that, “It’s not always easy to convince someone a need exists, if they don’t have that need themselves.” Stop and think of your sisters, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, wives, girlfriends, do you know their worth? Do they know their worth? The church is not a place for cultivating invisible women, it is the place that should know what a girl is worth.

Please take the time (male and females) to read both books, I’d also thoroughly recommend Carolyn Custis James and Amy Byrd for a deeper look into these areas.