wfn.org | AACC WOMEN'S DESK UNVEILS RESOURCE FOR DECADE VS. VIOLENCE

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

For Immediate Release
AACC Media Team: (011) 237 966 3059 or 3063

AACC WOMEN'S DESK UNVEILS RESOURCE FOR DECADE VS. VIOLENCE
Violence Against Women Among Topics at Women's Pre-Assembly

Yaounde, Cameroon - "A woman's place is in the kitchen."  "A woman can't
keep a secret."  "A woman can never build a country."  "A boy is a pillar;
a girl is a wild cat."	"A woman is her own worst enemy."  "Only women
commit adultery."

These are among African sayings that both men and women repeat, and, most
likely, have counterparts in other cultures.

But now these sayings are being put to positive use as fodder for
reflection and action in a new manual that explores all forms of violence
against women.

The 58-page manual, titled "Rise Up and Act" (in French, "Leve-toi pour
agir"), has just been launched from the Women's Desk of the Nairobi, Kenya-
based All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC).

Editor and contributor Danielle Rahaingonjatovo, a Lutheran from
Madagascar, unveiled the resource during the Nov. 19-22 AACC Women's Pre-
Assembly, which drew some 200 women from across Africa to Yaounde,
Cameroon, prior to the AACC's 8th Assembly here Nov. 22-27.

The resource "Rise Up and Act" was conceived during the global Ecumenical
Women's Decade (1990s) and born in the global Ecumenical Decade to
Overcome Violence (2000-10), both coordinated through the World Council of
Churches.

It "encourages the mobilization of women regionally and subregionally to
declare all forms of violence against women a sin," said Rahaingonjatovo,
who is the AACC Women's Desk Coordinator for East Africa.

The manual includes stories of women - rich and poor, intellectual or not -
  who have suffered violence, whether physical, social, cultural,
structural, political, economic, in the home or "even in the church," she
said.

It includes cartoons, games, puzzles, a copy of the global convention
against violence against women, Bible studies and, yes, the sayings from
countries across Africa as a way to open eyes and promote discussion and
action in congregations, seminaries, small groups and other settings.

"All the rest is up to us what to do with it," Rahaingonjatovo said, who
noted that "in Madagascar the book has been translated into our own
language, and we have added specifics from our own culture."

"We women in Africa are not sleeping or just lamenting our fate, we are
acting," she said.  "This book is a tool to work to truly eradicate
violence against women."

"Rise Up and Act" and "Leve-toi pour agir" are available for U.S. $8
including postage from the AACC Women's Desk, P.O. Box 14205 Westlands,
Nairobi, Kenya.

The Pre-Assembly included two related presentations.  Speaking on "Women
and Armed Conflicts," Pastor Mirana Diambaye of the Protestant Church of
Christ the King, Central African Republic, described the breadth and depth
of violence that women suffer in war.

She challenged churches especially to speak out against the widespread
practice of rape by armed forces, saying "churches haven't acknowledged
the extreme humiliation women have had to endure.  The church should offer
moral, psychological, physical and social healing to our sisters who have
had to endure it."

Diambaye urged women to study the political and economic power plays that
fuel conflicts, help build cultures of tolerance and reconciliation, work
to strengthen democracy and good governance and link hands across borders
to press their governments to stop all trade in weapons.

Speaking on "Violence Against Women," Wasye' m. Musyoni of Diakonia East
Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, reinforced Diambaye's presentation, saying
that "rape is not about sex, it's about anger, the need to dominate and
degrade women.	It has become a ritual of war.	It is used to terrorize
and tear apart communities and humiliate their men."

Violence against women occurs in a context of systems that keep women
subordinated, Musyoni said, continuing, "Silence also keeps the system
alive.	A minute of silence is respect but when it goes on for centuries
it's nothing but indifference and has to be broken."

"We want churches to speak out," she said.  "As women we need to construct
hierarchies that equalize power (between men and women), work for women's
economic power and address the need for women to be part of political
power (structures).  We need to work to build women's self-esteem and
construct institutions to help women who suffer from violence."

Carol Fouke-Mpoyo    AACC