CHILD GROOMING AS STRUCTURAL SIN

A Case Study of Broken Strings through the Framework of Letty M. Russell’s Christian Feminist Theology

Abstract

Sexual violence against children, particularly in the form of child grooming, often occurs in concealed ways and remains insufficiently addressed within religious institutions, including the church. This study aims to analyze child grooming as a form of structural sin within Christian ecclesial contexts by employing the framework of feminist Christian theology developed by Letty M. Russell. Using a qualitative theological approach, this research applies textual analysis and a critical theological case study of the memoir Broken Strings, treating the survivor’s narrative as a theological text that reveals experiences of suffering, power abuse, and ecclesial failure. The central thesis argues that child grooming constitutes a structural sin sustained by unequal power relations, cultures of silence, and ecclesial practices that fail to embody just hospitality. The findings demonstrate that the church’s involvement in violence manifests through symbolic, spiritual, and structural violence, as well as through pastoral, prophetic, and communal silence that reinforces systems of domination. Interpreted through Russell’s concepts of the double sin of the church, church in the round, and just hospitality, this study highlights child grooming as a profound ecclesiological and theological failure rather than merely an individual moral lapse. The study concludes that genuine ecclesial transformation toward becoming a safe and just community requires acknowledgment of structural sin and a fundamental renewal of pastoral and institutional practices that center and protect survivors.