Courage and Commitment Are Key to Achieving Gender Justice

International Women’s Day 2013

On the occasion of International Women’s Day (IWD), marked globally on 8 March, a video from The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) titled “Women and Men Are Created in God’s Image” highlights some of the critical issues for LWF’s commitment to gender justice in both church and society.

“A promise is a promise: time for action to end violence against women” is the IWD theme for 2013.

The LWF Women in Church and Society (WICAS) desk also offers a worship resource to celebrate women’s faith, strength and courage towards achieving gender justice in both church and society.

At the 57th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), 4-15 March in New York, United States, the LWF co-sponsored  two side events, under the CSW priority theme “Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.”

LWF’s contribution to the CSW was organized in collaboration with the World Council of Churches, and included the participation of Norwegian Church Aid among other organizations.

Ms Mariem M’bareck from the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) program in Mauritania discussed how the LWF had mobilized Muslim leaders’ support in advocating against female genital mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision. She explained how “an LWF awareness-raising process that began with the support of two imams in 2004 has grown into a countrywide campaign that today involves 225 religious leaders, 140 non-governmental organizations and 400 community activists, and engages the government’s and UN agencies’ collaboration.”

Ms Christine Mangale, program coordinator at the Lutheran Office for World Community in New York, and former LWF intern Tsiry Rakoto, joined some of the debates and sessions and explained how LWF member churches engage rural communities in efforts to end the cultural and harmful practice of FGM.

Discussions at the CSW panel sessions “helped to dispel erroneous assumptions about the controversial nature of reproductive rights and demonstrated instead that reproductive health includes basic protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. It deals with female genital mutilation and other external regulations of or ownership over a woman’s own body,” Mangale emphasized.

Commenting on the outcome of this year’s meeting, Neuenfeldt said the agreement and commitment to end violence against women expressed at the conclusion of the 2013 Commission had reaffirmed the main
declarations on women’s rights such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action. The CSW—the highest UN policy-making body on gender equality and women’s empowerment—“clearly pointed out that violence against women and gender-based violence are rooted in historical and structural inequality, in power relations between women and men, and is linked to gender stereotypes that perpetuate such violence,” she added.

Neuenfeldt underlined that there is a methodological learning for the Lutheran communion that the contribution of grassroots’ initiatives is key in influencing decisions made at the global level. “The strategic involvement of local communities is essentially what drives and gives meaning to global policy decisions that the LWF monitors,” she added.

The WICAS secretary said plans are under way for the participation of LWF churches and DWS country programs in the 55th and 56th sessions of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to be held in Geneva this July and September/October. The agenda includes a review of the obligations of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Colombia on the systematic violations of women’s rights, highlighting the fundamental role of women in peace building and conflict resolution.

(LWF’s Christine Mangale and Tsiry Rakoto contributed to this story.) [Updated 26 March]