WCC NEWS: New masculinities: Churches want to end violence against women

From WCC media <[email protected]>
Date Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:29:28 +0100

World Council of Churches - News

CHURCHES PROMOTE NEW IMAGES OF MASCULINITY IN EFFORT TO STOP VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN

For immediate release: 23 November 2010

Jointly issued by WCC and WCRC

Christians involved in church-based gender justice movements say that 
men
must develop a sense of positive masculinity in order to counter
increasing levels of violence by men against women. Citing reports by 
the
United Nations and human rights groups that the extent and type of 
violent
attacks on women is escalating, representatives of global church
organizations say initiatives aimed at changing male patterns of 
behaviour
are urgently needed.

“Mass rapes in the Congo, mutilation, domestic violence, dowry 
murders,
honour killings: these horrors must stop,” says Setri Nyomi, general
secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), ahead 
of the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25
November).

“There is violence too within the church – in parishes and in church
members’ homes,” Nyomi adds. “We are aware of systemic violence that
puts down women and their gifts in many structures and communities. 
Yet
too often we turn a blind eye or are silent before what we know to be
happening even though our faith teaches us that women and men are 
created
in God’s image.”

In an effort to stem the rising tide of violence against women, WCRC 
is
collaborating with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and other
faith-based organizations to develop a worldwide network of men’s 
groups
that challenge conventional images of masculinity which promote the 
ideal
man as strong, dominant, and in charge. This image, church gender 
justice
advocates say, justifies the use of violence to resolve conflict and 
to
establish male control of public, faith and domestic spheres.

“We cannot remain silent about the reality of violence against women 
and
the responsibility of men to address this,” says WCC’s general
secretary, Olav Fykse Tveit. “We believe that there is inspiration in
our faith for life together in love and mutual respect. As 
Christians, we
see women and men as equal.”
To mark the international day, the WCRC and the WCC are co-publishing 
a
manual of resources for use by churches, seminaries and civil society
groups to promote new images of positive masculinity.

“For the WCC, this gender training manual is an important 
contribution to
the process of building a just, peaceable community made up of women 
and
men that bears testimony to our Saviour’s call for unity. I recommend 
it
to all our member churches,” says Tveit. “We need to bear witness to
what 'being one' can do to help transform relationships between men 
and
women.”

The manual Created in God’s Image: From Hegemony to Partnership – a 
set
of guidelines for discussion, theological reflection and bible study
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d28af1d2064a5f35016d
) has been developed from work at the local level, encouraged by 
workshops
and encounters in church halls and community centres.

Co-edited by Philip Vinod Peacock and Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, 
who is
responsible for the gender justice programme with the WCRC, the manual
provides tools for workshops with men at the community level.

“A more positive image of masculinity is needed”, says Philip Vinod
Peacock, a theologian and deacon with the Church of North India. “When
we move away from a situation where men seek to dominate women and 
into
situations where men and women are in partnership, we will be more
faithful to God.”

“The idea is for men to recognize that patterns of male violence 
against
women result from negative images of masculinity - images of men as
warriors and gods,” Peacock says. “We want them to see that there are
other images for men that see strength in partnership with women 
rather
than dominance over them. We need to look to biblical teachings which
present those alternate images of partnership between men and women,”
says Peacock.

Partners in the initiative include the World YWCA, Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), and the 
World
Alliance of YMCAs.

“Concepts of masculinity and gender are explored with the aim of 
enabling
men to become more conscious of gender as it affects their own lives 
as
well as those of women,” Sheerattan-Bisnauth.

“The manual aims to strengthen men’s role in ending gender violence. 
It
provides an inclusive approach for men to participate in transforming
gender relations which produces male violence,” the Guyanese 
theologian
declares.
The manual, Created in God’s Image: From Hegemony to Partnership is
available in pdf format at
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=7cc96fae743570f58339
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d0ce35934bee3f1d0cd4
)

Print copies are available for 15 US dollars or 15 Swiss francs by
contacting wcrc(at)wcrc.ch (Link: [email protected] )
Additional resources are available for use by faith and civil society
groups:
I. World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)
* “Created in God’s Image: From Hierarchy to Partnership a church
manual on gender awareness and leadership development (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=50392cba3ec80caea087 )"

II. World Council of Churches (WCC)
* "What it takes to be a man: Bongani's story (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=30a46b8cf9da63c23d0c )": A 
video commissioned by the
WCC project "Women in church and society"
* “Cries of Anguish, Stories of Hope (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=f738c00b3f4e0b16163d )”: an 
online study guide

III. Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
* "It will not be so among you!" (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=eb4a732cc4050f979fc9
) A Faith Reflection on Gender and Power
* "Churches say ‘NO’ to Violence Against Women" (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=66f4145a6bc5a365049d )

IV. World YWCA
* Violence Against Women (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=838dda1cab0c33301a7b
) resources section
* 2010 YWCA-YMCA Week of Prayer (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=09de6e0cc7836e82eeee ) booklet


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, 
witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 
of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 
Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 
million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the 
Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



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