The Role of Religious Communities in Addressing Gender-Based Violence and HIV

This 42-page report summarises the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Health Policy Initiative, Task Order 1, project titled The Role of Religious Communities in Addressing Gender-based Violence and HIV, which was designed and implemented in Africa by Futures Group International and Religions for Peace.

Recognising the importance of collaborating to prevent and reduce gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV among women and girls, the initiative partners worked to improve the capacity of religious leaders and faith-based organisations (FBOs) to respond to GBV and its links to HIV. To that end, the first component of this project brought together African religious leaders - with a particular focus on women of faith - for a regional training workshop on GBV as related to HIV. From July 30-August 2 2007, 23 delegates from 8 countries - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia - came together to participate in a 4-day regional training in Nairobi, Kenya. An emphasis on the participation of women infused this project, as reflected from the very beginning; participants in this regional training were drawn, in part, from the African Women of Faith Network (AWFN) and the National Inter-Religious Councils, established by Religions for Peace.

As detailed in the report, the training began with opening speeches from a range of senior religious leaders and experts on GBV and HIV. As a beginning exercise, participants were asked to agree or disagree with a few statements; this was designed to spark initial conversation about the topics at hand. For instance, most participants disagreed with this statement: "It is not appropriate for religious leaders to discuss matters relating to women and sexuality."

To begin exploring what religious communities can do to take a more active role in addressing violence, participants were given an exercise (case study) describing a woman facing violence at home. The following ideas were suggested:

• Create multi-religious support groups for victims of violence.
• Train religious leaders on GBV issues and how to respond to diverse situations.
• Advocate for enactment and enforcement of laws to protect community members.
• Create multi-religious centres where people can receive help/legal assistance.
• Train multi-religious paralegals to give free advice to victims.
• Sensitise communities on GBV and related issues.
• Conduct multi-religious seminars, specifically designed for men from different religions and including topics such as the effects and consequences of GBV.
• Provide shelter and counseling services to victims of violence at existing religious structures.
• Provide information on GBV issues, based on religious scriptures and teachings.

To facilitate a more in-depth look at their own religions and teachings related to GBV and HIV, workshop facilitators led an exercise on how their religious/faith texts perpetuate GBV but also call believers to confront it. As part of an information exchange, participants reported on activities they have already undertaken related to GBV and HIV in their own countries.

The workshop concluded with action planning among country-based multi-faith teams. The project focused on a multi-faith approach to broaden the reach of the activity. Most of the teams decided to implement GBV and HIV workshops in their communities.

Throughout the training week, participants worked together to write and endorse a communiqué calling on religious leaders to use religious texts to create awareness amongst congregations and communities about GBV. These texts also were intended to be used to promote responsible behaviours, respect, and the dignity of all persons. Read aloud at the workshop's concluding reception, the communiqué also urged organisations to make concerted efforts to reach boys and men. Participants also took home the communiqué to their faith communities as a way of sharing their experience.

Beginning on page 7 of the report are "Action Plans: Country Activities Addressing GBV and HIV". In short, the project team set the following objectives: strengthen the capacity of religious communities and networks to respond to GBV as it relates to HIV; equip religious communities with tools to deepen their awareness and understanding of GBV; and enhance faith-based activities regarding GBV.

A second major component of the project was a regional leadership forum on GBV and HIV held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from November 28-29 2007. The 27 participants from 16 countries consisted of senior religious leaders and some of the participants from the Nairobi workshop, including representatives of the Women of Faith Network and the executive committee of the African Council of Religious Leaders (ACRL). Participants met in small groups to identify a problem, goal, desired outcome, and strategies and activities for achieving the goal. For example, one group's goal was to build a society free from GBV and HIV. Their desired outcome was to change people's attitudes related to GBV, and for religious leaders to make a substantial commitment to the fight against GBV and HIV. Strategies for these outcomes included: sensitisation and awareness raising; solicitation of religious leaders to preach against GBV and HIV; and education of women about their rights and their religion. Suggested activities were: mounting advocacy campaigns, organising seminars for religious leaders to equip and encourage them to include "proper interpretation" of the scriptures, organising workshops/seminars for all concerned groups, training women so they can assist in GBV-related activities, and counseling victims. The forum concluded with the ACRL Executive Committee drafting and signing a statement solidifying their commitment to addressing the issues and calling upon other religious leaders to address GBV and HIV in their communities. Their press release was read to the press.

To help carry forward the commitments expressed at both the regional training and leadership forum, the project team designed a multi-faith toolkit to provide religious leaders with information on GBV as it relates to HIV, poverty, and conflict, among other issues. The team also created an advocacy guide focusing on the rationale for religious leaders to address GBV and HIV and key steps they can take within their institutions and communities.

The report concludes that the project's sensitisation and mobilisation efforts - regional training and leadership forum - "were successful in engaging religious leaders and women of faith in addressing GBV and HIV. Religious leaders and women of faith have demonstrated this commitment and engagement through GBV and HIV activities at a variety of levels."

• Community level: For instance, "The South African participants held a GBV workshop soon after the regional workshop, which was separate from the workshop supported by the small grant....This [August 15 2007] event was a direct result of the Nairobi workshop, and two of the facilitators were participants from the regional workshop. They used the training module from Nairobi as a guide for this one-day program, which was held to commemorate National Women's Day (August 9)."
• Institutional and global: "With increased and improved capacity, Religions for Peace adopted GBV as an advocacy issue for 2009....The group currently is working with UNIFEM on the 'Say No to Violence Against Women' Internet campaign and has gathered more than 20,000 signatures around the world to contribute to the cause....Religions for Peace also brought attention to the need for action on GBV at the Women, Faith, and Development Summit to End Global Poverty, a multiyear initiative to create political will to increase global investments in women and girls."
• Senior-level support: "...this project has influenced male religious leaders to recognize the importance of the issues and to acknowledge women of faith as key leaders in their communities. For example...the Archbishop of Nigeria has been enthusiastic about increasing and supporting religious community involvement in addressing GBV and has made a commitment to doing so. Since his participation in the leadership forum, he has taken up the issues of GBV related to HIV with the Women of Faith network in Nigeria. The network has included GBV as a new initiative and held a meeting on GBV in April 2008. The Archbishop also has spoken out publicly against GBV, which has been covered by the Nigerian media."
• Public declarations: "In both the regional workshop and the leadership forum, participants worked together to create public declarations of their commitment to addressing GBV and HIV, along with recommendations for religious institutions and others to follow suit. Both the communiqué and the press release were covered by the media and garnered public attention locally. In addition, the events were covered internationally."

In addition to increased engagement and commitment to addressing GBV and HIV issues, the report describes:

• Higher level of multi-faith collaboration related to GBV and HIV activities - example: National activities implemented through small grants in each of the 8 countries involved teams of leaders representing a range of religions conducting workshops based on the training curriculum described above. Through Religions for Peace's global network, this project even expanded beyond Africa. The Women of Faith network in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) adapted the training module created for the Nairobi workshop to conduct its own training in Peru from September 3-6 2007. The network also has had virtual discussions on GBV, in which they provided feedback on the outline of the training module.
• Establishment and expansion of multi-faith women's networks - example: "By including a range of participants, religious leaders and women of faith who attended the regional workshop had the opportunity to become actively involved with Religions for Peace. This was particularly important for the women of faith who were interacting with AWFN for the first time. A 'network of networks,' the AWFN engages the power of existing religious women’s organizations as building blocks for cooperation in many different areas. At the country level, the AWFN assists in establishing multi-faith Women of Faith Networks."
• Strengthening of networks through increased resources - example: "The Tanzania Women’s Interfaith Network (TWIN) was heavily involved in organizing the leadership forum and implemented its own national-level training. This experience gave network members the confidence and interest in applying for their own funding to initiate separate activities. TWIN was successful in obtaining financial support from USAID's New Partner Initiative and plans to include GBV in its HIV-related programs."

Lessons learned documented in the report include:

• "Religious leaders and their communities want to address the issues of GBV and HIV, but they need education and support to do so....In many cases, the format of the multi-faith workshops did not provide the necessary time to fully explore religious texts and beliefs within each faith....Future efforts might consider additional time for these discussions or separate trainings based on faith."
• "When provided with education on the issues and financial support to initiate their own activities, religious leaders - particularly women of faith - have demonstrated their commitment to address these issues in their communities and have successfully conducted trainings with multi-faith community members....Their guidance is critical to engaging participants in thoughtful reflection on the issues. Men's role within GBV activities is also important..."
• "While time- and labor-intensive, this project design has the potential to be replicated....In the future, more attention should be paid to the level of involvement by men and women to ensure that both are active in the project. To replicate this model, one would need to provide adequate support and follow-up to country-level activities, with particular attention to the number of countries in the project. In addition...further evaluation of country-level activities is needed."

Annexes to the report include agendas, participant lists, a press release, and recommendations from participants of the regional training. The latter (Annex C) includes many communication-specific suggestions. For instance, recognising that "FBOs are well placed to be the leaders in advocacy and lobbying concerning GBV and HIV/AIDS", participants suggest that "[r]eligious leaders must speak out in their places of worship to totally condemn GBV and point out the links between GBV and HIV/AIDS". Further, "[a]n advocacy and media campaign should be launched to ensure more skills and sensitivity in the standard of media coverage on GBV and to undertake lobbying all media to assist in an education campaign on GBV and its link to HIV/AIDS; and FBOs need to lobby for the eradication of advertising that demeans women and promotes GBV, as well as creating gender stereotyping of women as sex objects." With respect to ensuring regular communication amongst members of the Religions for Peace network, participants recommended that the sharing of information and best practices be strengthened and enhanced with a focal point to disseminate information to member organisations. Another of the suggestions offered is that an online newsletter be set up for AWFN as a regular means of networking with all partners.