Finding victims of abuse in evangelical contexts requires understanding some of the specific characteristics of these faith communities.

This analysis is the focus of Lina Fernanda Montoya Alzate, a psychologist specialising in trauma who works as a university lecturer in Colombia and who travelled to Madrid (Spain) in January to participate in an awareness week organised by Mesa Salmo 15 (in English, Psalm 15 Table) together with the US organisation GRACE.

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Using spiritual narratives to abuse and silence

Montoya discussed the case studies of several women she has accompanied in recent years, to highlight the “misuse of religious symbols, narratives and practices” in churches where spiritual and sexual abuse took place.

The key to abuse is the “unequal, coercive condition and the use of religious narrative” that “nullifies the will of the person”, explained Lina Montoya.

Sexual abuse by Christian leaders is almost always built on previous spiritual abuse, said Montoya, who take advantage of asymmetrical power relationships based on “the implicit trust that those who attend church place in these communities of faith”.

She mentioned how biblical texts have been used out of context (such as 2 Kings 4:32-37) or how ‘covenants with God’ that cannot be broken are invoked, demanding total loyalty due to the abuser’s supposed “spiritual paternity” towards their victim.

But evidence of abuse does not necessarily mean that those who have been harmed will leave a congregation. The therapist mentioned the case of church members who remain in abusive situations for more than 15 years, especially when the manipulation has been experienced since childhood or adolescence, and the person is recognised by others as central to the functioning of the Christian ministry, even holding a paid position on the church team.

Victims experience a “coercive emotional triad” that can block them into silence, the therapist explained. On the one hand, fear (of rejection, of being cursed, etc.); secondly, guilt (‘was it my fault?’); and finally, shame (feeling defective as a human being, having lost value and dignity due to the abuse suffered).

She lamented that there is a great deal of ignorance among prosecutors, the judicial system and the authorities in general about the specificities of evangelical churches and how abuse could occur in these particular contexts.

Research and awareness-raising

In Madrid, the psychologist spoke of how “the lack of compassion and mercy” in many churches is based on the attempt to maintain a “reputation of holiness”, a counterproductive attitude.

Through the Metanoia initiative, Lina Montoya has been working since 2022 to provide support to victims and their families, as well as offering training in universities and churches. Her academic research takes a psycho-spiritual and psycho-social approach.

She also works to raise awareness among churches, together with other communicators and survivors, through the Redcafe platform (Colombian Network Against Abuse in Faith-Based Settings), created in 2025 with a podcast, and plans to conduct a national survey and design protocols for prevention and action against abuse.

A ‘hermeneutics of trauma’ is needed

Regarding the process of survivors of abuse in church contexts, the expert spoke of “psycho-religious trauma”, which are “wounds caused by the systematic abusive practices of religious-spiritual structures and systems”.

In this trauma, the victim's “image of God, of themselves and of others is distorted”. That is why it is important to “historicise the pain” of the person and to do a “hermeneutics of trauma”. Diagnoses will sometimes show psychological damage in the perception of reality, but also often psychosomatic damage.

The pain of a victim of abuse in a church context also has to do with having lost a community that gave the victim their identity. For some people, bringing their experiences to light means leaving a spiritual community in which they grew up, lived, married, and served for much of their lives.

How can we best accompany these people? The minimum requirements for accompaniment that Lina proposed are: “listening with compassion and empathy, critically recognising the spiritual practices that took place, identifying support networks beyond a specific church, and preparing the victim for the difficult process of reporting, justice and restoration, to finally turn their gaze back to Jesus”.

Lina Montoya concluded by explaining that, from her own experience of accompanying around 20 victims so far, people who have suffered abuse “do not seek revenge, but restoration”.

The courage of survivors

Ana Milena Rubiano Madrid, a survivor in Colombia, who, after a long legal battle, won a court case against an evangelical pastor, also travelled to Spain for the week of meetings with Mesa Salmo 15.

Rubiano is also a member of Redcafe and is the driving force behind the NGO Metamorfosis, which accompanies “individuals, families and communities who are victims of different forms of violence in the religious sphere” with prevention workshops, educational materials and artistic expressions to help victims move “from silence to life”.