Community Dialogues: Promoting Respectful Relationships and Equitable Communities

"...ultimate aim is for couples to be transformed as individuals and in their relationships."

The sessions outlined in the resource are composed of both scriptural reflections and other tools to facilitate honest community-level dialogues to address misinterpretations that support and perpetuate harmful masculine ideologies, gender inequality, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Scriptures are also used in reflections to support dialogue on child spacing and men's support of safe motherhood. These sessions are to be undertaken by Gender Champions who have been identified and trained using Tearfund's Transforming Masculinities approach (see Related Summaries, below), which is being implemented in 12 countries across Africa, Asia, and South America. Published by Tearfund, this resource for Gender Champions was created in partnership with Georgetown University's Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Passages Project.

The discussion themes for the facilitated sessions are tailored for both women's and men's groups, each of which should include a maximum of 8-10 participants. Weeks 1-5 for these single-sex groups focus on: (i) Introduction, and SGBV Root Causes; (ii) Gender Roles and Norms in Daily Life; (iii) Power, Status and SGBV; (iv) Faith and SGBV; and (v) Moving Forward by Reflecting on the Past. Couples come together for joint reflection in Weeks 6-8 (e.g., with a week focused on child spacing and healthy relationships) and for a joint celebration in Week 9, at the end of which, the Gender Champion is asked to "explain to them that they are all going to make a pledge together. In this way, they will commit to working on their own attitudes and actions, making joint decisions about child spacing, and in their communities to end SGBV and to promote positive masculinities (as Jesus modelled) and gender equality (according to God's plan in creation)."

The sessions are practical and action oriented, so at the end of each one, participants are given personal and relational reflections to take home and think through during the week, with a view to sharing their thoughts in the following session. Example from Week 2: "Reflect on what you are currently doing that might be harmful to others and how you are contributing to shaping these norms. How can you change that?" The idea is that such prompts will not only encourage participants to reflect at length but also foster a sense of accountability, forge a strong bond within groups, and create a safe space for transformation.

Appendices provide guiding principles for Gender Champions and practical tools for linking community dialogues to health services and referral pathways for SGBV and for holding a family planning health talk. A list of relevant Bible passages conclude the resource.