Preventing violence through religion
Religious leaders help raise awareness against harmful social norms and practices to prevent violence against women and children
Religious leaders are trusted in their communities, and they wield significant influence. UNICEF has been engaging with religious leaders in Tanzania to help raise awareness against harmful social norms and practices and to prevent violence against women and children.
Earlier this year, UNICEF, in collaboration with UNFPA and the Tanzania Interfaith Partnership (TIP), developed a user-friendly pocketbook for Christian and Muslim religious leaders on the prevention of violence against women and children. The pocketbook includes numerous religious texts that speak against violence towards women and children. More than 600 religious leaders in Songwe, Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe, Mtwara, and Kigoma Regions have received the pocketbooks – reaching approximately 160,400 women, men, and adolescents in their congregations with targeted messaging to prevent violence and harmful practices, including the promotion of positive gender norms.
“Teaching through this pocketbook has helped me to better understand what violence means, especially violence against children. I used to hear this word being used a lot, but I never paid much attention to what it really meant. Now I understand that there are many forms of violence and not just physical and sexual. But that even the way we talk to or treat someone can have a huge effect on how they feel.”
Sheikh Hassan, the leader of the Muumini Islamic Center, was one of the 19 religious leaders that were oriented on the use of the pocketbook by TIP to help prevent violence against women and children. “Since we started using the pocketbooks to raise awareness in the community, we have been receiving reports on cases of violence,” he said. “Members of the community are starting to understand the importance of reporting. All the cases we receive, we refer to the social welfare officer.”
"The pocketbook is transformative for me and my congregation. I will continue to use it to help protect our children and women from violence as it is a powerful tool for faith leaders."
A total of 200 copies of the pocketbook have been distributed to religious leaders across all the districts in the Kigoma region. However, there is still a high demand for the Christian and Muslim pocketbooks. Therefore, UNICEF will continue to print more copies and have them disseminated across the country in partnership with TIP.
