Working with religious resources

In the previous step you have investigated how the Sexuality, Gender and Faith Toolkit draws on Bible texts to raise awareness about gender based violence and the importance to transform unequal relations. In this video Godfrey Nakai from SAFAIDS explains how and why it is important to engage with religious resources when working with religious leaders.

He gives an example of how a story from the Bible book of Judges, chapter 19, is used to engage into conversation on rape and gender based violence. His reflections indicate that stories from the Bible are not engaged to communicate ‘truths’ or ‘norms’. The stories create space for talking about rape and sexual trauma in everyday life in the community, and for reconsidering normative and exclusionary responses to this. Drawing on the Bible as a resource that has a lot of authority for Christian communities and their leaders in Zimbabwe, helps to motivate people to engage in such sensitive and difficult conversations.

Can you think of any examples in your own environments where activists and organisations draw on religious texts to transform the ways people think around themes such as gender, sexuality, and gender based violence?