“There Is a Silent War Going On”—African Religious Leaders’ Perspectives on Domestic Violence before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Two paragraphs are duplicated: lines 163-183 are duplicated in lines 184-204.

The quote "So if you think it's, you want to ..." (line 305) seems to be missing something. If you think it's what? The whole first sentence is unclear. Even if it is a direct quote from the response of a participant, it should still be intelligible and the reader should be able to follow the argument.

Lines 428-429 is one sentence which is split over two paragraphs. Similar case with lines 614-615.

Line 562 "where" should be "were".

Author Response

Two paragraphs are duplicated: lines 163-183 are duplicated in lines 184-204. Adjusted, this a mistake that happened in the formatting process. The duplicated paragraph was deleated.

The quote "So if you think it's, you want to ..." (line 305) seems to be missing something. If you think it's what? The whole first sentence is unclear. Even if it is a direct quote from the response of a participant, it should still be intelligible and the reader should be able to follow the argument. Adjusted, the first sentence was deleted.

Lines 428-429 is one sentence which is split over two paragraphs. Similar case with lines 614-615.  In both cases a part of the sentence belongs to a longer quotation which is rendered in an own paragraph. This was not visible because the paragraph was not properly formatted.  It is now adjusted. Corrected

Line 562 "where" should be "were". Corrected

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

This is a well-done job. The conclusion could've brought us back to what the article set out to do from the outset, then give us the findings, and way forward. 

The second, linking COVID-19 with African concepts of disciplining women or women-battering is its weakest point, though it doesn't kill its credibility, as some of these cultures weren't brought by COVID-19. Was the author trying to push matters or lump it up together? However, it is a clear that the author strived hard to get the good information therein.

n/a

Author Response

Thank you for reviewing my article.

My idea is that the conclusion brings us back to the outset of the article as it refers back to the quotation in the introduction, that religion and religious teachings will never be neutral with regard to the topic of gender based violence. It then presents the findings from the survey and the interviews.

Reviewer 4 Report

No comment

No comment

Author Response

As it is indicated that there are no comments, I guess no formal response is need. Thank you for reading my paper. 

Reviewer 5 Report

This article investigates the reaction of African religious leaders to domestic violence during Covid on the basis of quantitative and qualitative data.  Whereas domestic violence during the Covid period increased, it remained underreported. From the analysis of the data it becomes clear that more than half of the religious leaders saw the need to address the issue of domestic violence and to become active. It is further stated that on the ideological level, Churches mediated between the classical denigrating attitude towards women and newer, more equal perspectives. More women than men were concerned with the increasing violence and less women than men described domestic violence as low.

This is a well-documented article that takes previous research into account. Note that there is a repetition from lines 163-183 in lines 184-205. Line 639: redefine (not redefined).

Author Response

This is a well-documented article that takes previous research into account. Note that there is a repetition from lines 163-183 in lines 184-205. Line 639: redefine (not redefined). Thank you for your kind words. The repitition has been deleted and the typo has been corrected.