A conference on violence against women sponsored by the World Council of Churches got off to a shaky start when many Third World women shared their accounts of sexual abuse and forced prostitution. But Western women offered their own perspectives. American theologian Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz noted that women who invent their own theology often suffer "institutional violence." Worship of the goddess Sophia was often met by narrow-minded criticism from mainstream religious leaders, leading to "theological silencing." As Ms. Isasi-Diaz put it, "Being silenced, being ignored, not being valued... this is what violence is all about."

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