WUNRN
Direct Link to Full 229-Page 2010
Manual:
CHURCHES PROMOTE NEW IMAGES OF
MASCULINITY IN
EFFORT TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN - MANUAL
23.11.10
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
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
“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.wcrc.ch/sites/default/files/PositiveMasculinitiesGenderManual_0.pdf