ELCA Conference Addresses "Cycles of Domestic Violence"

Techny, Ill. (ELCA) -- Domestic violence against women and children was a "universal" problem addressed by 45 women from around the world gathered here for "Breaking the Silence: No More Violence Against Women and Children in the Church," Sept. 14-22.
A message to the churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) was developed by conference participants. The message calls upon the LWF and its member churches to use its skills and resources to address the "disaster of violence."
The LWF is a global communion of 131 churches representing 59.5 million Lutherans, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Hosted by the ELCA's Commission for Women, Breaking the Silence offered an opportunity for women to learn ways of reducing violence and sexual abuse against women and girls. Though culture made this a difficult subject for some, all acknowledged at least an awareness of the problems of violence in their respective countries.
A paper on "Cycles of Violence From the Global to the Local" was presented by Priscilla Singh, a keynote speaker at the conference. Singh is secretary for women in church in society for the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, Switzerland.
In her paper Singh shared insights on violence against women and children from a global perspective.
"Many women would accept only physical violence as violence, and would not want to put it on par with psychological violence. We have been conditioned so much by the dualism that we would accept one as the 'norm' and the next as the 'other,'" said Singh.
"The term 'violence against women' is explained in the following way: Any act of gender-based violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life," said Singh, quoting a passage from the Beijing Platform for Action: Fourth World Conference on Women.
"Violence against women is not a linear process that gets worse and worse. It is not even a cycle that comes and goes and comes back again to haunt. It is like a tornado or twister that gathers momentum as it builds up a destructive power and sucks up the person and those around her in its vortex and then throws them around battered, disoriented, deprived and at times irrevocably lost for life," she said.
"Violence is perpetrated by and experienced by men, women and children and always results in injury to human relationships. Violence may be physical, sexual, psychological or economic. Violence is most likely to occur to those with less power in society, including the differently-abled, sexual minorities, the elderly, cultural minorities, etc.," according to a message to the churches of the LWF written by the women during the conference.
"We recognize that these types of violence occur not just in one cycle but a complicated intersection of many. The violence increases with the layering of one cycle over another. These cycles of violence occur within domestic, institutional, religious, national and global contexts," it stated.
The message offers suggestions on how churches can provide assistance to victims of violence and ways the church can create safe environments to prevent violence.
It said safe environments to address immediate needs include:
+ Provision of services such as shelters, hotlines, short-term economic assistance and counseling;
+Consistent and just response to victims and perpetrators of violence within the church;
+ Equipping bishops, pastors, church staff and volunteers to respond appropriately when violence is disclosed.
The message said ways the church can create a safe environment to prevent violence include:
+ Educate and empower women and girls so that the cycles that may lead to violence are broken, such as unemployment, poverty, some cultural expectations, addictions, etc.;
+ Educate women and men, girls and boys on issues of equality, respect and power;
+ Examine and challenge how some cultural expectations of gender roles perpetuate the cycles of violence;
+ Include in the curricula of our schools, colleges and theological seminaries the study of violence and the misuse of power.
The message continued: "The LWF and its member churches are international leaders in addressing disaster throughout the world. We are skilled at mobilizing the necessary resources to handle immediate needs, to address root causes and facilitate long term development. We call upon the Lutheran communion to use these skills and resources to address the disaster of violence against women and children."
"We affirm the actions of member churches, institutions, parishes and leaders that have begun to address this difficult work. But given the magnitude of the violence, the Lutheran communion must increase its response by working in partnership with other agencies and organizations and allocating ample resources for both immediate response and long-term prevention," it states.
The conference addressed several areas of violence against women and children in workshops.
Workshops included discussions on the churches' response to sexual abuse and violence against women, clergy sexual abuse, initiatives against child prostitution, violence and the power of language, and violence in silent poverty and war against women and children in Sierra Leone.
In addition to keynote presentations and workshops the four-day conference offered worship, Bible study, cultural evening events, plenaries and "home group" sessions. The home group sessions were closed to invited press for purposes of privacy and confidentiality for participants.
"It was important that the women be allowed a 'safe-place' to share and speak openly about issues concerning themselves personally or as they may relate to where they come from," said Chadwick.
A day-long excursion to downtown Chicago and surrounding areas was a significant part of the four-day event. Participants toured facilities that deal with domestic violence, sexual abuse, and shelters for homeless and battered women and children. Participants received resources from the various facilities to assist them in their homelands to either start or expand existing programs.
A visit to the Chicago Mayor's Office on Domestic Violence offered participants insight to the city's progress and programs that deal with domestic violence.
"The Mayor's Office on Domestic Violence recognizes that domestic violence does not occur in a vacuum and that the climate in which the violence occurs can magnify the effects of a domestic situation. The additional barriers that may be brought about by ethnicity, religion, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, etc., are all issues that need to be considered when attempting to devise appropriate models of intervention for victims of abuse as well as for perpetrators of the violence," the group was told by a representative of the mayor's office.
"By looking to the community and its subgroups, those working to end domestic violence can gain invaluable insight from individuals and institutions with diverse experience. These individuals and agenciese can further help to identify gaps in service provisions as well as assist in the problem-solving process," said the representative.
"The issue of violence is the one issue that women around the world can agree on," said Chadwick. "Agreement is not always affirmed theologically, politically or spiritually. Women will continue to unite until violence against women is an exception, not a way of life," she said.
"The Commission for Women is responsible for assisting this church in establishing a safe environment for all in church and society," said Chadwick.
Breaking the Silence was funded by the World