November 23, 2011

GENEVA – Lutheran churches are among those joining the United Nations' UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign that aims to eliminate violence against all women and girls.

The campaign brings together a host of UN agencies and offices to end violence against women; its social mobilization platform engages churches and other players from civil society, with targeted actions around the International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) action plan "Churches Say ‘No' to Violence against Women" is a resource used by church leadership and congregations in addressing the issue of violence against women. It offers a theological foundation for churches in the LWF to address the situation of violence against women, naming it as sin.

Three examples of LWF member churches doing so come from Brazil, where the issue of violence is illustrated head-on; Indonesia, where confronting it is more culturally complex; and Tanzania, where women still face female genital mutilation (FGM).

Not So Sweet Home

Carolaine, a 20-year-old with a two year-old daughter, lives with her husband on the outskirts of Porto Alegre, in Brazil's southern Rio Grande do Sul province. She was severely beaten as a child by her father, with no explanations given.

She gave testimony about this as part of the Not So Sweet Home exhibit, organized by the Lutheran Foundation of Diakonia (FLD), which is linked to the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB).

"I want to have a better life. I want to raise my daughter in very different way. I don't want her to experience what I went through," remarks Carolaine. She explains what happened at her childhood home.

"When my brothers did something wrong, the daughters were blamed. My father would just administer beatings," says Carolaine. "He would not ask us what happened.

"My mother never did it, she never slapped me, but she always drank a lot. It was my father who would beat me and my siblings, and my mother."

The Not So Sweet Home exhibit is based on an international exhibit created by German anthropologist Una Hombrecher, with the support of the agency Bread for the World.

Everyday Objects Turned into Weapons

The exhibit shows a home, with a living room, bedroom and kitchen, and serves as a warning about domestic violence (affecting women, children, and men). It calls attention to an issue that needs to be discussed and overcome at all levels of society.

"People can enter the Not So Sweet Home house and walk through its different rooms, where they find everyday objects that can turn into weapons when used by attackers," says Marilu Nornberg Menezes, who is in charge of the exhibit.

Among the dangerous objects are rolled up newspapers, pan lids, pots, steam irons, rolling pins, bowls, knives, forks, pillows and cushions, belts, shoes, etc.

The 16 Campaigns for the End of Violence against Women, sponsored by the Secretariat of Policies for Women of Rio Grande do Sul, is using the exhibit and notes that similar ones can be created in different places.

Indonesia: A Family Issue

From Batak Simalungun in Indonesia, Ms Butet, the mother of a young boy and two girls, explains she works in a government office. Her husband is a farmer.

Her testimony is of her silent endurance of growing conflict in her marriage and how she was left feeling desperate, until her church was able to help.

"I always obey him because I love him."

Early in her marriage she felt happy, but later her work and church responsibilities increased.

Her husband began to drink a local brew called "tuak" and sometimes after a night out with his friends he came home virtually unconscious.

"He changed. He became jealous and suspicious. He began to forbid me to go to the church, limiting my activities to meet people," says Butet.

"He was angry when I didn't obey him. Sometimes he attacked me in front of my children. I suffered, but kept silent, afraid to speak out."

Despite Butet's prayers, things did not change.

In Batak culture, the wife belongs to the husband's family, so she should discuss marital problems with them.

"Finally, I met his parent[s] and told them what their son did to me," Butet explained. But, "they did not support me. They only told me that as a wife I should be patient. They blamed me …. They asked me to honor him."

Darwita Purba, coordinator of the Women Crisis Center "Sopou Damei" GKPS, says, "The church's task is to break the silence."

The Simalungun Protestant Christian Church (GKPS) in 2007 built a Women's Crisis Center. "The center is a tool of the GKPS to talk about gender equality, as men and women are equal in God's image. They also help women and children who are victims of violence."

East Africa: Churches Encourage Dialogue on FGM In East Africa, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is getting women to discuss the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) in their country amongst themselves. The practice involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, with health risks ranging from infections and chronic pain to obstetrical complications.

Rachel, from the Mara region, and Tina, from Arusha in the north, both say the issue still exists in their country despite the strong presence and awareness work of the Lutheran, Roman Catholic and other churches.

"Where I come from in Longido in the Arusha region, one of the Maasai homelands, FGM is practiced openly," says Tina who has not undergone it herself. "My parents made sure I did not get circumcised by sending me to school. I stayed there until I graduated as a teacher and I got married to an enlightened man.

"I live in the city and not in the village. Unfortunately, many in my peer group have undergone FGM."

She tells Rachel, "In the Maasai community, there is a specific time when FGM can be done. The ceremony involves every member of the community. Young girls aged between 8 and 15 are prepared by their parents wearing circumcision regalia and are sent to circumcisers, who are old women."

After the rite, "Parents and friends shower the girls with presents and there will be dancing and eating," says Tina.

Rachel says, "It seems that this tradition is not easy to abolish. We need to think of new methods of dealing with this problem."

Tina notes, "The church in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders is trying to abolish this tradition. Awareness-building seminars have been held for village elders, circumcisers, women, youth, local government officials and others in order to educate the communities involved with FGM, to understand its negative consequences."

Download "Churches Say ‘No' to Violence against Women" at http://www.lwf-assembly2003.org/lwf-interspire/link.php?M=2227&N=553&L=118&F=T.

Lutheran World Information