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At the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the World Council of Churches (WCC) supported women’s initiatives against violence on the basis of a Christian conviction that “women as well as men are created in the image of God and deserve to be respected, protected, and cared for.”
This stance was presented in a statement at the CSW 57th session, focused on the elimination of violence against women, on 14 March, in New York City, United States, by Dr Isabel Phiri, WCC’s associate general secretary for public witness and diakonia.
Speaking on behalf of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Phiri said, “Civil society, including the faith-based community, has an important role to challenge attitudes and traditions that contribute to undermining women’s rights and dignity.”
“Now, more than ever, it is necessary to reiterate that women’s rights are human rights, and that human rights are universal. Traditional values or religious beliefs cannot justify the acceptance of violence against women, nor can they be accepted as limitations on women’s rights and freedom,” affirmed the statement.
