Breaking Down Barriers of Fear: Making The Salvation Army a Safer Place for Victims of Domestic Abuse
Guest Post by Amy Quinn-Graham, University of Leeds
Salvation Army researcher Amy Quinn-Graham writes about her research into Domestic Abuse in The Salvation Army and how to make The Salvation Army a safer place for victims of Domestic Abuse.
Breaking Down Barriers
In October 2022, I answered the call from the Salvation Army UK & Ireland territory’s Family Ministries department to undertake doctoral research into domestic abuse within the Salvation Army UKIT.
Coming from a professional background in developing domestic and gender-based violence and abuse prevention initiatives, I’d recently begun pondering what was missing from our efforts when we weren’t able, equipped or willing to explore the role faith and religious beliefs play in the perpetration of abuse.
Equally, I was keen to understand the role that faith-based organisations such as The Salvation Army could play in challenging domestic and gender-based violence and abuse and creating safe spaces where victims and survivors were heard, believed and affirmed, and perpetrators were held to account.
My doctoral studies are ongoing, however I have already been privileged enough to speak to a number of survivors of domestic abuse from within the movement, as well as officers (ordained ministers), staff and volunteers, many of whom are passionate and proactive about preventing and safely responding to domestic abuse.
Domestic Abuse and The Salvation Army
I have recently published a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence exploring barriers to safe disclosure and effective response to domestic abuse in the Salvation Army[1]. This paper is based on a movement-wide survey I carried out in mid-2024, completed by 172 soldiers and adherents (members of Salvation Army churches), officers and employees.
Almost 60% of these respondents described having experienced domestic abuse, with six of those currently experiencing it. While the survey was self-selecting, and therefore likely to attract those who had experience of domestic abuse, what it tells us is that domestic abuse is happening in the Salvation Army and needs to be responded to effectively.
It’s these findings that I want to talk about here.
Understanding What The Data Is Saying
Analysis of the section of the survey related to responses to disclosures of domestic abuse paint a complicated picture; one that is, of course, just one snapshot of the wider situation of domestic abuse in the Salvation Army.
While half of respondents who had experienced domestic abuse and disclosed it to someone in the Salvation Army indicated that they’d received a positive response, the other half of respondents – mostly officers – described receiving not only negative, but actively harmful responses, such as being told to return to the marital home or being directed to simply ‘have a chat’ with their husband.
This suggests that there are some barriers within the Salvation Army that prevent officers specifically from receiving a safe and effective response to a disclosure.
What Are The Barriers to Disclosure or Domestic Abuse?
All respondents were asked who they would disclose to in the Salvation Army if they were experiencing domestic abuse. For those who hadn’t experienced abuse, this was hypothetical, but for a number of those who had experienced abuse and chosen not to disclose to anyone, this reflected a very real consideration they’d had to make.
What I found when exploring this data in light of the existing literature on domestic abuse in UK churches and Christian families, and integrating my own implicit knowledge of the Salvation Army as a staff member of over five years, was a strong undercurrent of fear. This fear emerged in different ways in almost all responses and is mirrored in the in-depth interviews I’ve since carried out with 11 survivors from across the movement.
These respondents shared their fear that disclosing abuse would mean a loss of job and community. This fear was particularly pronounced for officers, as being removed from officership would mean not only losing their ‘job’ and community, but also mean losing their home, their children being uprooted, and being prevented from living out their calling.
The Particular Issue Affecting Officers
Most officers are married to other officers and, regardless of context or circumstance, if an officer leaves officership it has repercussions for their spouse, potentially meaning they must leave officership too.
This fear was also linked to the sense that there is something wrong with an officer if they are experiencing abuse. One respondent described this as not wanting to disclose the abuse they were experiencing because they felt they’d be seen as ‘deficient’.
Officer survivors I’ve interviewed since the survey have further contextualised this by introducing the idea that there are certain expectations placed on officers to live ‘perfect’ lives and there is no room for individuals to deviate from this model. As one officer survivor told me:
It kind of makes me wish that sometimes I just lived in the normal world where, like my life could be messy and that would be okay, because I don’t feel like my life is allowed to be messy.
This expectation creates a culture of fear by painting a picture of a Christian leader as one who could never experience abuse, perpetuating the myth that only certain types of people can be victims or survivors of domestic abuse and removing the responsibility for the abuse from the perpetrator.
Fears Around Disclosure of Domestic Abuse
There was fear that the perpetrator would find out or be told the victim-survivor had disclosed because of a lack of confidentiality across the movement. While this theme is not unique to the Salvation Army[2], it is compounded by the complex familial ties that are woven across the Salvation Army, where ‘everyone knows everyone’ and family members across multiple generations move between corps, and staff and volunteer positions frequently.
Respondents expected that their disclosure would be shared with others and were fearful that they either wouldn’t be believed, they would be judged for their experience or they would be seen to be the cause of division within their corps. For one survivor I’ve been working with since analysing this data, this division is no longer just a fear but is their reality. They are no longer able to attend their corps as members have sided with the perpetrator, who still attends the corps.
The Loss of Agency for the Victim
Linked to this, respondents described the fear of their disclosure being taken out of their hands and acted on without their consent. While safeguarding processes play a vital part in ensuring people are protected from harm, because domestic abuse is generally framed within a safeguarding context in the Salvation Army, respondents were fearful that anything they shared would be automatically reported to the Safeguarding team before they were ready.
We know from research into domestic abuse that it can take, on average, seven attempts for a victim-survivor to leave the perpetrator[3] and trying to force them into action before they’re ready can jeopardise their safety.
Finally, respondents expressed the fear that rather than receiving a harmful response, they would receive no response at all.
The Danger of Organisational Silence on Domestic Abuse
A number of survivors described this as their experience, for example, one officer who disclosed got ‘absolutely no response – [they] didn’t even check on me after my disclosure’, while another officer stated that ‘nothing changed’ when they disclosed, as the person they disclosed to ‘never asked me again how things were until I finally walked out of the marriage’.
This fear was fed by the fact that there is so much silence around domestic abuse in the Salvation Army. Silence is a common theme in domestic abuse research, including in UK churches[4] and survivors shared with me that this stops them coming forward because they don’t know how the person they disclose to will respond.
The Necessity of Changing the Culture of Speaking About Domestic Abuse
One officer survivor described how they would have disclosed sooner if people had talked about domestic abuse while they were in training college, however they also acknowledged that they’re currently struggling to work out how to talk to their corps about domestic abuse because it’s such a sensitive topic and they don’t want to upset people.
What Does This Mean for The Salvation Army?
As I unpacked these responses and reflected on them, I came away with a picture of a church in denial that domestic abuse is an issue in its ranks, is lacking in confidentiality, and with officers ill-equipped to handle a disclosure safely and effectively (despite good intentions).
As I continue my studies, I wonder if the fear that people feel about disclosing abuse in the Salvation Army is reflected in, and fed by, wider organisational fears.
Domestic Abuse and Fear for Reputation
In their research into domestic abuse in UK Black-majority churches, Kanyeredzi and Wilson[5] identify reputation as a barrier to churches acknowledging domestic abuse.
In my recent paper, I argue that given its unique church-and-charity structure, the Salvation Army is reluctant to talk about domestic abuse because of the belief it could tarnish its reputation. For the Salvation Army, a damaged reputation could mean the loss of government contracts, funding or opportunities to tender.
However, we cannot live in fear, and victims and survivors across the Salvation Army need to know that they will be believed, supported and loved if they come forward to share their experience and seek help.
God did not Give a Spirit of Fear
As Christians, we are repeatedly told in scripture to ‘have no fear’. While fear is a completely normal physiological and psychological response to certain stimuli, it is not a healthy state to live in. When we are living fearfully, we cannot fully love.
By allowing a culture based in fear, the Salvation Army is preventing itself from being able to properly love those who are hurting and looking for guidance and support.
Lights in the Darkness for The Salvation Army
As I said at the beginning of this piece, despite this fear, there are accounts of individuals receiving really positive responses to their disclosures of abuse.
Survivors were also keen to emphasise to me that even where they’ve been let down, there are individuals across the movement who have gone out of their way to support them by helping them to plan and execute their escape, praying with them, journeying alongside them as they navigate complex statutory support systems and ensuring their children still have a safe way to engage with the Salvation Army.
However, these responses have been based on individuals and these individuals’ understandings of abuse, their existing relationships and their capacity to support. There still needs to be a clear, systematic and systemic approach to not only responding to domestic abuse safely and effectively but also working to prevent it in the first place.
Bible Reflection by Chris Button
There are times when we look the other way, when we avoid what we should be facing up to. The Bible doesn’t do this. Scripture faces the reality of gender-based violence and reveals it for what it is. One of the most brutal stories in the Bible is Judges 19:22-30. Here is an excerpt.
27 In the morning her master got up, opened the doors of the house, and when he went out to go on his way, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 ‘Get up,’ he said to her, ‘we are going.’ But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey; and the man set out for his home.
The woman has no voice in this story. The person who had a responsibility to her ignored it and allowed her to be harmed to protect another man. The church has far too often made that decision. It is everyone’s responsibility to change this.
A Prayer Suggestion: Lord Jesus, you are the God who sees what others ignore. You heard the cry of those in slavery and set them free. You heard the blood of the murdered crying out for justice. You hear the cries and pain of every woman who is suffering, abused, and oppressed. Convict your church to open its eyes to what is hidden, and remind each one of us of our responsibility to our neighbour. Stir up hearts and do not let us settle until this is accomplished. Amen
Who Is Amy Quinn-Graham?
Amy is an action researcher in The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory currently working in the Research and Development Unit.
She has an MA in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies and has worked in international development groups to support and protect young women and girls. This has included working with the UN.
Amy is currently undertaking her PhD from the University of Leeds on Domestic Abuse with particular reference to The Salvation Army. She has been awarded researcher of the month by Leeds university.
Her research has supported the work of The Salvation Army’s Family Ministries unit which you can read about here. And she has called on members of The Salvation Army to work together to end domestic abuse in the church.
Amy has been published in peer reviewed journals and you can read two articles relating to The Salvation Army here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1756073X.2024.2383044
[1] Quinn-Graham, A. (2026) Barriers to safe disclosure and effective response when disclosing domestic abuse within The Salvation Army. Journal of Gender-Based Violence (published online ahead of print 2026). Retrieved 20 May 2026 from https://doi.org/10.1332/23986808Y2026D000000130
[2] Wendt, S. (2008) Christianity and domestic violence: feminist poststructuralist perspectives, Affilia, 23(2): 144–55, doi:10.1177/0886109908314326
[3] Center for Women’s Health. (n.d.) Domestic violence is more common than you might think, Center for Women’s Health [online], https://www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/domestic-violence-more-common-you-might-think#:~:text=It%20typically%20takes%207%20attempts,safest%20choice%20at%20that%20time. (Accessed: 28 May 2026).
[4] Aune, K. and Barnes, R. (2018) In Churches Too: Church Responses to Domestic Abuse – A Case Study of Cumbria, Coventry University and University of Leicester, https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/en/publications/in-churches-too-church-responses-to-domestic-abuse-a-case-study-o/ (Accessed: 12 May 2026).
[5] Kanyeredzi, A. and Wilson, J. (2023) Spirit & Solace: Black Churches and Domestic Abuse – Final Report, https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/89402/Spirit%20%26%20Solace_%20Domestic%20Abuse%20and%20Black%20Churches%20Research-%20Final%20Report.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y (Accessed: 6 February 2026)
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