The World Council of Churches has invited people to join in a weekly time of prayer for women who are “standing strong in the face of gender-based violence”.
Each Thursday, beginning next week on 31st May, the WCC will release a prayer via its website and social media which has been shared by members of so-called “pilgrim teams” who, over the past two years, have been visiting communities in conflict and hearing the stories of women facing sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence and other abuses.
In 2017, the teams visited Abuja, Jos and Yola in Nigeria as well as Burundi. This year, they have already visited numerous communities in Colombia as well as Juba in South Sudan.
Isabel Apawo Phiri, deputy general secretary of the WCC, said the teams were not prepared for the “stories that our sisters have shared”.
“Our sisters are carrying unspeakable wounds,” she said. “The women’s strength comes from their faith in God who is able to transform the conflict to justice and peace.”
The prayer initiative forms part of Thursdays in Black, a global movement resisting attitudes and practices that perpetuate rape and violence.