The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in Ghana, Most Rev. Prof. Johnson Asamoah-Gyadu, has called for compassion and pastoral care for women recently caught up in sexual exploitation involving a Russian tourist.
In a post shared on his official Facebook page on Monday, February 16, the Presiding Bishop expressed concern over the public shaming of the women, whose alleged sexual encounters were reportedly shared online without regard for the consequences on their personal and family lives.
“In the last few days, some women have been in the news for the wrong reasons,” he wrote, noting that while he does not condone any inappropriate behaviour, he is not privy to the women’s side of the story and therefore hesitates to condemn them.
He particularly took issue with media commentary that described the women as “cheap,” stressing that no human being, regardless of their mistakes or failures, deserves such demeaning labels.
“My heart sank when in one media commentary, the ladies were described as ‘cheap,” he stated. “No human being, regardless of their mistakes and failures in life, deserves to be described as ‘cheap’.”
The Presiding Bishop warned that in Ghanaian society, such incidents can have lasting repercussions, especially for married women who may risk losing their marriages.
He noted that the matter has found its way into sermons and media discussions across the country, potentially compounding the emotional distress of those involved.
From what he described as a “purely pastoral viewpoint,” the Most Rev. Prof. Asamoah-Gyadu said he sees the women as victims of what he termed the Russian man’s “beastly and vain sexual pursuits.”
He urged media practitioners and preachers to refrain from intensifying the women’s agony by repeatedly discussing the issue without hearing their side of the story.
“The women need our pastoral support, not condemnation,” he emphasised.
Drawing on biblical examples, he referenced the stories of Mary Magdalene, the woman caught in adultery, and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well as models of compassion and restoration. He also offered words of hope to anyone directly affected by the controversy.
“If you are reading this and it is your story, I offer you God’s redemptive grace in your time of distress. None of you is beyond God’s forgiveness and redeeming power,” he wrote, while cautioning against suicidal thoughts and self-harm.
Quoting Galatians 6:1-2, he encouraged believers to restore those who have fallen “in a spirit of gentleness” and to bear one another’s burdens in fulfilment of the law of Christ.
The Presiding Bishop concluded his message with a call for empathy, restraint and spiritual support for all those affected.
