Women's Ministries and ADRA launch campaign to stop violence against women:
Pictures:
• Heather-Dawn Small, Director of Women's Ministries, joins church President Jan Paulsen. (Photo: Katia Reinert)
•
Charles Sandefur, President of ADRA International, presents the
EndItNow signature banner to Annual Council delegates. (Photo: Matt
Herzel/ADRA)
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Women's Ministries department joined together with the launch of a new advocacy campaign to stop violence against women. The program, enditnow, was presented to church delegates at the 2009 Annual Council meetings in October. enditnow calls on Adventists around the world to work in their communities to stop violence against women and girls.
The enditnow campaign features a petition drive, aiming for 1 million signatures representing each of the 200 countries with an Adventist presence, organizers said. The signatures will be presented to the United Nations.
"It's a global crisis, and as a church we need to be involved and be aware," said Heather-Dawn Small, director of Women's Ministries.
One out of three women around the world is a victim of physical or psychological repression, and approximately 135 million girls have undergone female genital mutilation, ADRA leaders said during the enditnow presentation.
ADRA President Charles Sandefur said violence against women can be a silent and subtle threat that impacts hundreds of millions of lives.
Coordinators asked the delegates to sign the enditnow banner to kick off the signature drive. Adventist world church President Jan Paulsen signed first, saying the campaign was "a strong, powerful" statement.
"I hope and I pray, and I will do my part so that this will make an impact, and that the position that we take as a people, giving the highest value to women, will become widely known and supported across...religious, cultural and national boundaries," Paulsen said.
For more information, visit enditnow.org.
"Enditnow gives us a common voice and calls the rest of the church to follow" Charles Sandefur, President of ADRA International
Source: Adventist News Network
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