Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative study

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) continues to be a pervasive issue globally, and in Ethiopia, that harms women and challenges progress towards a more gender-equal society. Many interrelated social, economic, and cultural factors impact VAWG. Religion is a complex factor that can contribute to...

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Main Authors: Elisa Gobbo, Addise Amado Dube, Mengistu Demeke, Wosene Berhanu, Nesanet Megersa, Yoska Amenu, Adamu Addisse, Sibylle Herzig Van Wees
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Global Public Health
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2386988
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author Elisa Gobbo
Addise Amado Dube
Mengistu Demeke
Wosene Berhanu
Nesanet Megersa
Yoska Amenu
Adamu Addisse
Sibylle Herzig Van Wees
author_facet Elisa Gobbo
Addise Amado Dube
Mengistu Demeke
Wosene Berhanu
Nesanet Megersa
Yoska Amenu
Adamu Addisse
Sibylle Herzig Van Wees
author_sort Elisa Gobbo
collection DOAJ
description Violence against women and girls (VAWG) continues to be a pervasive issue globally, and in Ethiopia, that harms women and challenges progress towards a more gender-equal society. Many interrelated social, economic, and cultural factors impact VAWG. Religion is a complex factor that can contribute to and act as a preventative measure against VAWG. Thus, faith-leaders have been identified as key actors in VAWG prevention. This study examines Ethiopian Evangelical faith-leaders transformative knowledge change following a Channels of Hope for Gender training intervention. Focus group discussions were conducted with faith-leaders from five different Evangelical Church groups. The results show that the faith-leaders’ experience of the Channels of Hope training challenged their gender norms and allowed them to enact relationship and community-level changes. Additionally, they demonstrated efforts and interest in generating change at the level of the Church. However, barriers remained to fully addressing VAWG and implement gender transformative learning more widely. Thus, we conclude that the Channels for Hope training is useful in generating mindset changes and improving relationship-level interactions, but that it requires a longer implementation timeframe and further support from other structures and interventions to achieve sustainable change to prevent VAWG.
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spelling doaj-art-115e04e8767545fe96dd31d966ca022d2025-08-20T02:19:52ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Public Health1744-16921744-17062024-12-0119110.1080/17441692.2024.2386988Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative studyElisa Gobbo0Addise Amado Dube1Mengistu Demeke2Wosene Berhanu3Nesanet Megersa4Yoska Amenu5Adamu Addisse6Sibylle Herzig Van Wees7Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, SwedenEthiopian Graduate School of Theology, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaEthiopian Graduate School of Theology, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaEthiopian Graduate School of Theology, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaEthiopian Graduate School of Theology, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaEvangelical Theological College, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaSchool of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaGlobal Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, SwedenViolence against women and girls (VAWG) continues to be a pervasive issue globally, and in Ethiopia, that harms women and challenges progress towards a more gender-equal society. Many interrelated social, economic, and cultural factors impact VAWG. Religion is a complex factor that can contribute to and act as a preventative measure against VAWG. Thus, faith-leaders have been identified as key actors in VAWG prevention. This study examines Ethiopian Evangelical faith-leaders transformative knowledge change following a Channels of Hope for Gender training intervention. Focus group discussions were conducted with faith-leaders from five different Evangelical Church groups. The results show that the faith-leaders’ experience of the Channels of Hope training challenged their gender norms and allowed them to enact relationship and community-level changes. Additionally, they demonstrated efforts and interest in generating change at the level of the Church. However, barriers remained to fully addressing VAWG and implement gender transformative learning more widely. Thus, we conclude that the Channels for Hope training is useful in generating mindset changes and improving relationship-level interactions, but that it requires a longer implementation timeframe and further support from other structures and interventions to achieve sustainable change to prevent VAWG.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2386988Faith-leadersviolence against women and girlsqualitativetransformative knowledgeEthiopiaSDG 5: Gender equality
spellingShingle Elisa Gobbo
Addise Amado Dube
Mengistu Demeke
Wosene Berhanu
Nesanet Megersa
Yoska Amenu
Adamu Addisse
Sibylle Herzig Van Wees
Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative study
Global Public Health
Faith-leaders
violence against women and girls
qualitative
transformative knowledge
Ethiopia
SDG 5: Gender equality
title Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative study
title_full Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative study
title_fullStr Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative study
title_full_unstemmed Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative study
title_short Learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith-leaders in Woliso, Ethiopia: A qualitative study
title_sort learning from a gender transformative intervention among faith leaders in woliso ethiopia a qualitative study
topic Faith-leaders
violence against women and girls
qualitative
transformative knowledge
Ethiopia
SDG 5: Gender equality
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2386988
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