Leadership Development
Building a cadre of faith leaders at all levels to prepare people, especially women at the grassroots, to be change agents to prevent and respond to violence against women in the Church and community.
Our approach
How change happens
Speak One Voice works through a method of its own: a structured process communities move through together, led by facilitators drawn from those communities.
Five pillars
The five pillars
Together they address the beliefs, the leadership, the safety, the evidence and the partnerships needed to end violence against women and children.
Spiritual Growth
Respectful, faith-based dialogue in the Church and community about religious, traditional, economic and cultural issues, and other contemporary issues that are endemic to violence against women and children, with the purpose of fostering healthy relationships at the family and community level.
Empowerment
Establish safe spaces in the community to ensure that survivors of abuse are cared for and supported until they can put their lives back together.
Evidence, Research & Advocacy
For violence-free communities and institutional transformation through the interpretational review and use of sacred writings as it applies to issues of violence against women and gender equity; the review of Church policies and regulations to determine their influence on gender equity and change where needed; and the review of national policies around issues of violence against women.
Networks & Partnerships
Recognizes that eliminating violence in our families and communities will require collaboration with all like-minded stakeholders.
Each pillar is set out in full on Programs, with the programmes and the recorded activity that deliver it.
Why faith leaders
The two missing links
Speak One Voice identifies two groups whose absence from the response to violence against women and children matters most, and whose involvement changes it.
The primary victims
The women
- Custodians of culture.
- Powerful, and wielding more influence than they sometimes know: they can influence change.
The biblically mandated
The church
- The mandate of all religious faiths is to provide a caring, safe space for everyone who walks through its doors, especially the vulnerable and the marginalized.
- The role of religious faith leaders is to take a strong stance, based on religious principles, to combat violence against women and to respond to the needs of victims and survivors.
This rests on what Speak One Voice believes about faith, women and communities: our principles.
Theory of Change
What has to happen, and what follows
Four statements. Each builds on the last: the systems built in the second make the networks in the third possible.
Beliefs and behaviour
If women and church leaders use the process of the Experiential Learning Model and self-reflection to change their beliefs, behaviours and practices of how religion and culture perpetuate violence against women and children
Then
- They will recognise, understand, acknowledge and change harmful beliefs, behaviours and practices that perpetuate violence against women and children.
- They will increase their understanding of positive religious and cultural practices and norms.
Systems
If women and church leaders recognise their role as faith leaders
Then
- They will create, develop and strengthen strong systems that are supportive of their role as faith leaders in mitigating violence against women and children.
Networks
If women and church leaders build relationships and networks of groups involving women and church leadership, supported by a strong systems framework
Then
- They will nurture relationships and networks that expand the reach to other communities and are supportive of and accountable to one another.
Safe spaces
If women and church leaders act jointly and respond by challenging and speaking out against existing norms, attitudes and beliefs through the creation of safe spaces
Then
- Women, as primary custodians of culture, break the silence and become agents of transformation and change.
- Women, families, the church and communities will become safe spaces to mitigate violence against women and children.
Experiential Learning
Do, Look, Think, Plan
The Experiential Learning Model is a methodology of community education that allows learners to make a conclusion of their knowledge (understanding).
Do
Look
Think
Plan
Community Learning is not teaching delivered to a community. It is a structured process a community works through, in which participants reach their own conclusions.
Facilitators are trained to lead this process and work from a toolkit developed by Speak One Voice. Read about Community Learning.
Expected outcomes
What this approach is designed to produce
These are the outcomes this approach is designed to produce. They describe intent, not results. What Speak One Voice has recorded to date is set out on the Impact page.
- IndividualWhat changes in a person
- Harmful beliefs, behaviours and practices that perpetuate violence are recognised, acknowledged and changed.
- Positive religious and cultural practices and norms are better understood.
- InstitutionalWhat changes in the church
- Systems are built that support faith leaders in their role mitigating violence against women and children.
- RelationalWhat changes between groups
- Networks expand the reach of the work to other communities, and hold one another accountable.
- CommunityWhat changes where people live
- Women break the silence and become agents of transformation and change in their communities.
- Women, families, the church and communities become safe spaces that mitigate violence.
Bring this work to your church or community
Speak One Voice trains facilitators to lead this process where they live and worship.