Paper short abstract:

The potential of faith perspectives to combat violence against women has been overshadowed by misunderstanding religion as a contributing factor to SGBV. On the contrary, local faith communities and faith leaders can take leadership and seek to end SGBV building upon their worldviews and values.

Paper long abstract:

The potential of faith perspectives to combat violence against women and girls has been overshadowed by misunderstanding religion as a contributing factor to SGBV. On the contrary, it is found that religion can also be a protective factor against SGBV. Drawing upon Islamic Relief's policies and programmatic experience, I discuss in what ways humanitarian agencies can engage with faith communities to address intersectional concerns of GBV and other abuses. Particularly, I examine Islamic perspectives on SGBV and the ways in which a faith-based SGBV intervention of Islamic Relief Ethiopia employs religion to combat SGBV in a humanitarian context. Qualitative evidence from project reports shows that religion can be a resource to prevent SGBV, and that faith-based interventions can challenge societal discriminatory norms and violence. I argue that local faith communities and faith leaders can take leadershiop and seek to end SGBV building upon their worldviews and values. Humanitarian infrastructure should recognise religious resources as inherent capacities of local faith communities and integrate faith perspectives and faith leaders into programming to effectively prevent and respond to SGBV among populations of high religiosity.