Introduction / Elisabeth Schu?ssler Fiorenza -- I. Violence against women: exploring sociocultural analysis and gender construction. Because of the angels: sexual violence and abuse / Joanne Carlson Brown -- Prostitution and rape in the colonial period / Zilda Fernandes Ribeiro -- Violence and justice / Beatrix Schiele -- African-American women in three contexts of domestic violence / Delores S. Williams -- Feminine socialization: women as victims and collaborators / Mary John Mananzan -- Of monsters and dances: masculinity, white supremacy, ecclesial practice / Mark Taylor. II. Violence against women: exploring gender construction. 'Go and suffer oppression ' said God's messenger to Hagar / Irmgard Fischer -- Ecclesiastical violence: witches and heretics / E. Ann Matter -- Maria Goretti: rape and the politics of sainthood / Eileen J. Stenzel -- Violence against women: strategies of resistance and sources of healing in Christianity / Felisa Elizondo -- Clergy misconduct: sexual abuse in the ministerial relationship / Marie M. Fortune. Editorial reflections / M. Shawn Copeland. Special column: Conversation between Jean-Bertrand Aristide, President of Haiti, and Dorothe So?lle, 2 September 1993.