All churches should stand united and preach zero-tolerance of gender based violence.
This was the view of Reverend Joji Abonio from St Christopher’s Anglican Church, who was part of a male advocacy training workshop that ended in Suva on Friday 22 July.
“We are thankful to the Pacific Conference of Churches and the Fiji Council of Churches for organising this workshop that has given me insight and so much more knowledge on this issue of gender and gender based violence,” Abonio said.
The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) in partnership with the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) have been conducting the male advocacy workshop for women’s human rights with pastors, priests and church workers.
FWCC facilitated the workshop organised by PCC to help men who are members of churches that belong to the Fiji Council of Churches understand gender, violence against women, human rights and how they can help eliminate gender-based violence.
29 men including pastors and lay preachers attended the workshop which was held at the Methodist Church of Fiji’s Epworth House hall in Suva.
FWCC Co-ordinator Shamima Ali said religious leaders play an important role in the lives of the majority of people in Fiji.
It was hoped that through the workshop the religious leaders would be open to learning about the issues and coming to terms with the magnitude of the problem.
This included the fact that some priests and pastors are perpetrators of violence.
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