Religion and Gender in International Development

About this picture: A civil society activist outside the parliament building in Lebanon, celebrating the abolishment of article #522 of the Lebanese penal code. This law exempted a rapist from punishment if he married his victim. Abaad is one of the case study organisations in this project and works on creating broad support from civil society, feminist groups, religious leaders and local communities to tackle gender based violence in Lebanon. The organization has played a crucial role in the abolishment of #522

Name of the project

Religion and Gender in International Development

Collaborators/Participants

Dr. Brenda Bartelink (b.e.bartelink@rug.nl) in collaboration with Dr. Elisabeth Le Roux (Unit for Religion and Development at the University of Stellenbosch)

Commissioner: UK Department for International Development

Project lead: Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities.

Participants: International Religious Development NGOs.

What are you currently working on? And how is a gender and diversity perspective important in your research?

The focus is an applied research project entitled “Working effectively with faith leaders to challenge harmful traditional practices”. This project investigates best practices around engaging with faith leaders on harmful cultural practices (HCPs). It follows a multi-case case study design, with each individual case study focusing on one of five organisations, four of whom are international faith-based organisations (FBOs), and their work on HTPs and with faith leaders. In addition a literature review and a survey among scholars, practitioners and policy advisors was conducted.

The project will result in a literature review report, case-studies, a synthesis report and three policy briefs in 2017. In 2018 the gathered data and insights will feed into academic publications that will apply conceptual debates from religious studies, anthropology and feminist studies to reflect on:

·         conceptualisation and application of terms such as harmful cultural practices in interventions in the context of international development,
·         in the context of the secular, religious and gendered dynamics underlying the strive for progress and development
·         the roles and contributions of religious actors, including religious NGOs and religious leaders, in this endeavour