The commitment to gender justice is a fundamental part of Mission 21's project work. One element that makes the joint commitment to gender justice visible is the campaign "i walk with...": With this, Mission 21 shows its solidarity with important female actors from the partner countries, accompanies them for one year and puts their achievements in the fight for gender justice in the spotlight. Each year, "i walk with..." highlights the commitment of a different woman and thus also strengthens the intercontinental networking of our partners: last year, Suzan Mark from Nigeria symbolically handed over the blue T-shirt to Obertina Johanis from Indonesia, who this year passed it on to Ebed Grijalva Yauri from Peru. "We are focusing on violence against women and female infanticide," said Ebed Grijalva Yauri. "With "i walk with..." we raise public awareness about this important issue and show affected women that they are not alone."
The T-shirt presentation took place during the Women's Pre-Conference. The women's delegates and coordinators from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe reported on the most burning issues and challenges. Burning issues" were defined as feminicide, gender-based discrimination and violence, trafficking in women and human beings, and religious fundamentalism. The delegates then drafted a joint official message for the synod, which includes the main concerns of all four continents as well as concrete proposals for the fight against persistent inequality.
The body shave priced
The Wednesday afternoon of the synod week was dedicated to the theater for human rights: with Liviana Bath and Jana Burger experienced multipliers of the feminist collective Madalena Berlin arrived. They held a workshop based on the methods of the Theater of the Oppressed. For once, the guests and delegates were able to deal with the urgent challenges for women in a completely different way.
The response to the event was very positive: "This method convinced me," says Halim Pratama from Indonesia, Asia Youth Coordinator of Mission 21, for example. "We worked more with the body than with the head, which allowed a novel way of dealing with issues." Ebed Grijalva Yauri from Peru is also enthusiastic: "I think the Theatre of the Oppressed has great potential in working with indigenous women's communities. Because of their lower level of education, these women often don't have the vocabulary to express experiences of violence and injustice. That's why the physical approach is important."
The event was also attended by subject matter experts, including Elaine Neuenfeldt, Program Manager for Gender Justice at ACT Alliance, who ended the day together with a fiery plea for "holy anger": "Anger has a bad reputation; we rarely hear about its righteousness and justice. Yet Jesus too was angry when he drove the merchants out of the temple in Jerusalem. And if Jesus can be angry, so can we! Let's cultivate and use that holy anger to transform society."
Mara Wirthlin, Catalina Schriber
