Centre for Religion and Public Life

• Mikel Burley, Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy
• Caroline Fielder, Associate Professor in Chinese Studies
• Alistair McFadyen, Retired Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology
• Seán McLoughlin, Professor of the Anthropology of Islam (Muslim Diasporas)
• Tasia Scrutton, Associate Professor in Philosophy and Religion
• Mustapha Sheikh, Professor in Islamic Studies; Co-Director of the Iqbal Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam
• Jasjit Singh,  ​​​​​Professor of Religion and Global Engagement
• Stefan Skrimshire, Associate Professor in Theology and Religious Studies
• Caroline Starkey,  Associate Professor of Religion and Society
• Johanna Stiebert, Professor of Hebrew Bible
• Aled Thomas, Lecturer in Religious Studies
• Emma Tomalin, Professor of Religion and Public Life
• Adriaan van Klinken, Professor of Religion and African Studies
• Robert Vanderbeck, Professor of Human Geography and Head of School

This talk calls for a conversation between men and women towards dismantling patriarchal structures that promote and legitimise rape culture. Focusing on the context of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, it interrogates the role of patriarchy in gender-based violence, what gender-sensitive conversation looks like, and what it could achieve in spaces of mutual respect, theological reflection and genuine love. Based on over six years of ethnographic research, including participant observation, interviews and focus group discussions, this talk brings to the fore the often under-represented and rarely documented stories of women with disabilities who were infected with HIV through rape by men known to and, in some cases, loved by them. It advances the findings explored in my new book that women with disabilities, including those with albinism, continue to negotiate unsafe intimate partner relationships, while making sense of the ambivalence of a Christian faith that both provides succour and drives abuse. This presentation argues that in religious and cultural spaces, patriarchy enables and entitles men to act in ways that dehumanise and diminish the value of women -  sometimes with deadly consequences.

Rev. Dr. Jessie Ini Fubara-Manuel is an ordained minister, researcher, author and advocate for gender justice and disability inclusion. She is Urban Theologian of the Leeds Church Institute. Her recently published book is Navigating Disability, HIV, Relationships and Abuse for Christian Women in Nigeria: A Focused Study on Port Harcourt (Abingdon: Routledge, 2026)