Yuliana Lantipo, Jayapura, Jubi – Dozens of women gathered and joined worship at the Graha Sara building in Jayapura City, to celebrate the Day of the Women's Fellowship of the Church in Asia, as well as to start the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence on Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021.

Secretary of the Papuan Injili Christian Church's (GKI) Synod in Papua, Rev. Daniel Kaigere, conveyed in his speech that to reduce and stop violence, it must be started from oneself, and then in the family. "It has to be from the closest environment first before the wider ones. Psalm is really talking about building the foundation in families first, then in the nation and so on," he said.

Kaigere appealed to every foundation and church structure under the GKI Synod to create and develop education programs to battle gender-based violence. According to him, a lack of education is one of the factors leading to violence against women. Therefore, he said, education played a role in reducing the number of violence against women.

Kaigere said that when children lack education, resulting in them lacking skills, it would make them feel less confident and see other people as enemies.

He stressed that the church should encourage an education model that focuses on skills and ensuring that it is low-cost. "Because [a high cost] is one of the factors inhibiting our children from completing their education," he said.

After the worship, the JPIC staff of the GKI Synod in Tanah Papua, Rev. Magdalena Kafiar, explained to the congregation that the 16 Days of Activism was a global movement. She further told about the history behind the 16 Days of Activism and emphasized that the campaign was important and worth every attention by everyone in Papua.

"This campaign is also important for us in Papua because violence is real, it is still happening in Papua. Not only domestic violence but also violence in the workplace, and even more severe, state violence," said Rev. Kaviar, saying that cases of displaced people

due to armed conflicts continued to occur today in several regencies such as Nduga, Puncak, Intan Jaya, and Maybrat.

"Our humblest prayer at this time, we hope that mothers, children, the elderly, and all civilians in conflict areas can sleep peacefully, can return to their homes in peace, and are not afraid to do activities as usual again," she said. (*)

Source: https://en.jubi.co.id/papuan-women-pray-together-first-day-of-16-days-of-activism