wfn.org | Re: United Methodist Daily News note 481

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org (United Methodist News list)]

Reply-to: owner-umethnews@ecunet.org (United Methodist News list)
"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (489
notes).

Note 489 by UMNS on Dec. 3, 1997 at 15:59 Eastern (5450 characters).

ITLE: Women’s Equality in Kenya
CONTACT: Linda Bloom						 677(10-71B){489}
		New York (212) 870-3803					Dec. 3, 1997

Churches silent on issue of violence
to women, Kenyan coordinator says
NEW YORK (UMNS) -- Churches in Kenya and elsewhere often have been silent on
the issue of violence against women, according to Wasye Musyoni, gender
coordinator for the National Council of Churches of Kenya.
At a World Council of Churches-sponsored consultation on violence against
women in late November in Geneva, "one of the things that struck us most was
the resounding silence of the churches," she said.
Musyoni spoke here Dec. 2 at a discussion sponsored by the Office of Women and
Children, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, and the World Day of
Prayer International Committee, Church Women United.
In Kenya, an example of that silence occurred after 19 girls in a secondary
school were killed during an angry stampede by boys, she said.
The Geneva consultation—part of the work of the WCC’s Ecumenical Decade on the
Solidarity of Women—considered challenges and concerns raised by seven
regional consultations on the issue of violence against women. The types of
violence range from rape and domestic abuse to ritual female genital
mutilation to discriminatory practices in the church.
The Geneva group has forwarded 11 recommendations for change for the WCC and
six for church members, according to Musyoni.
In Kenya, focus on the Ecumenical Decade over the past 10 years has brought
some progress for women, she said.
"The church can choose to be silent, but it can no longer choose to ignore
women," Musyoni explained, adding that the decade’s influence has allowed
women to connect with each other and find their voices.
Women also are being allowed into some positions of leadership in Kenyan
churches. "Despite the slowness, some tangible gains, some visible signs of
solidarity are there," she said.
At the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the former women’s desk has been
transformed into the gender desk, abandoning a welfare-oriented approach for a
more comprehensive consideration of women’s issues, especially in terms of
relationships with men and with society.
Among its goals are advocating for women’s full participation in the church
and for the economic empowerment of women, according to Musyoni.
On the issue of domestic violence, the gender desk has called upon the
churches "to affirm the worth and dignity of women," who are created in the
image of God, she said.
The gender desk also helps find alternative living arrangements for battered
women—there is one shelter in the entire country, in Nairobi—and identifies
organizations which will help them seek legal redress.
# # #

	 

ITLE: Women’s Equality in Kenya
CONTACT: Linda Bloom						 677(10-71B){489}
		New York (212) 870-3803					Dec. 3, 1997

Churches silent on issue of violence
to women, Kenyan coordinator says
NEW YORK (UMNS) -- Churches in Kenya and elsewhere often have been silent on
the issue of violence against women, according to Wasye Musyoni, gender
coordinator for the National Council of Churches of Kenya.
At a World Council of Churches-sponsored consultation on violence against
women in late November in Geneva, "one of the things that struck us most was
the resounding silence of the churches," she said.
Musyoni spoke here Dec. 2 at a discussion sponsored by the Office of Women and
Children, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, and the World Day of
Prayer International Committee, Church Women United.
In Kenya, an example of that silence occurred after 19 girls in a secondary
school were killed during an angry stampede by boys, she said.
The Geneva consultation—part of the work of the WCC’s Ecumenical Decade on the
Solidarity of Women—considered challenges and concerns raised by seven
regional consultations on the issue of violence against women. The types of
violence range from rape and domestic abuse to ritual female genital
mutilation to discriminatory practices in the church.
The Geneva group has forwarded 11 recommendations for change for the WCC and
six for church members, according to Musyoni.
In Kenya, focus on the Ecumenical Decade over the past 10 years has brought
some progress for women, she said.
"The church can choose to be silent, but it can no longer choose to ignore
women," Musyoni explained, adding that the decade’s influence has allowed
women to connect with each other and find their voices.
Women also are being allowed into some positions of leadership in Kenyan
churches. "Despite the slowness, some tangible gains, some visible signs of
solidarity are there," she said.
At the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the former women’s desk has been
transformed into the gender desk, abandoning a welfare-oriented approach for a
more comprehensive consideration of women’s issues, especially in terms of
relationships with men and with society.
Among its goals are advocating for women’s full participation in the church
and for the economic empowerment of women, according to Musyoni.
On the issue of domestic violence, the gender desk has called upon the
churches "to affirm the worth and dignity of women," who are created in the
image of God, she said.
The gender desk also helps find alternative living arrangements for battered
women—there is one shelter in the entire country, in Nairobi—and identifies
organizations which will help them seek legal redress.
# # #

	 

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