The Handmaid’s Tale: Hagar
In this episode, Em and Caz focus on the story of Hagar, an enslaved woman who was used by her enslavers, Abraham and Sarah, to bear a child for them [Genesis 16, 21]. They discuss Hagar’s experience as a victim of sexual subjugation at the hands of both Abraham and Sarah, and try to deconstruct Sarah’s underlying motives for her complicity in Hagar’s victimisation. Along the way, they talk about the contemporary phenomenon of enslavement, as well as some recent cases of powerful women orchestrating sexual violence.
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The Bloody Bible podcast is produced by Caroline Blyth, Emily Colgan and Richard Bonifant
Episodes are recorded and edited by Richard Bonifant
Our podcast music is ‘Stalker’ by Alexis Ortiz Sofield, courtesy of Pixabay music https://pixabay.com/music/search/stalker/
Our podcast art was created by Sarah Lea West
Resources for this episode
Anti-Slavery, “What is Modern Slavery?” https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/
BBC, “Who is Ghislaine Maxwell? The story of her downfall.” 28 June 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59733623
Laura Briggs, “The Danger of Forced Pregnancy.” Bill of Health, 9 May 2022. https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/05/09/the-danger-of-forced-pregnancy/
End Slavery Now, “Forced Marriage.” http://www.endslaverynow.org/learn/slavery-today/forced-marriage
Equality Now, “Forced Pregnancy.” https://www.equalitynow.org/forced_pregnancy/
Wilda C. Gafney, “Hagar.” Bible Odyssey. https://www.bibleodyssey.org/people/main-articles/hagar/
Wilda C. Gafney, Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
Chris Harris, “'Cruel and Punitive': Allison Mack Allegedly Told Nxivm Women 'They Were Worth Nothing,' Report Says.” People, 21 May 2018. https://people.com/crime/allison-mack-nxivm-sex-trafficking-charges-allegedly-cruel-punitive/
International Labour Organization. “50 Million People Worldwide in Modern Slavery.” ILO, 12 September 2022. https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_855019/lang--en/index.htm
James C. Okoye, “Sarah and Hagar: Genesis 16 and 21.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32, no. 2 (2007): 163–75.
Susan Pigott, “Hagar: The M/Other patriarch.” Review and Expositer 115, no. 4 (2018): 513–28.
World Council of Churches, “Thursdays in Black.” https://www.oikoumene.org/what-we-do/thursdays-in-black#inspiration
Missing podcast https://linktr.ee/MissingCSM
Support Services
Australian Red Cross https://www.redcross.org.au/migration/forced-marriage/
Forced marriage support services (UK) https://reportandsupport.qmul.ac.uk/support/what-support-is-available-for-forced-marriage
Victim Support (UK) https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/you-co/types-crime/abusive-relationships/forced-marriage/
Supportline (UK) https://www.supportline.org.uk/problems/forced-marriages/
Tahiri Justice Center (USA) https://preventforcedmarriage.org/get-help/
Sakhi (for South Asian women, USA) https://sakhi.org/forced-marriage/
Shakti (New Zealand) https://shaktiinternational.org/contact-us/; tel: 0800SHAKTI (0800742584)
Annuity.org – financial abuse resource https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/financial-abuse/
