Ending domestic abuse in Latin America

We are moving ahead with the foundational research about domestic violence and the Church in Latin America.  This is a pioneer research conducted in four Latin-American counties, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, through our partner organisations Paz y Esperanza and Cominudad y Cambio.

There have been a few challenges that delayed the initial timetable by 8 weeks, the main one being access to churches and the participation in the focus groups. It has always been key for the integrity of the research to be able to access as wide a range of denominations as possible, and this has required longer hours of negotiation and coordination than expected. 

We have, however overcome those obstacles and the research is back on track and has entered the next stage. There are four main points that have impacted the researchers in Argentina so far:

• Worrying signs about the lack of awareness of national, regional and local legislation and the support for victims and survivors of domestic violence.
• The church is not seen as a place where victims and survivors can look for support, as they feel they will be stigmatized. We are hoping to get a better understanding about this situation once the other data from the all the countries has been analysed.
• There is also a clear influence of the machismo culture in the church and in the way the church leadership approaches the topic of relationships. This was recognized by the pastors attending the focus group. However, there was also an openness to talk about it, particularly from the male pastors, and a real desire to see what is the next step after the study.
• There was a clear need from survivors to talk about their experience of abuse, as described by Graciela from Comunidad y Cambio, during the focus group session with survivors “it is like a dam being burst which cannot be reversed”. They all agreed that there is a lack of spaces where survivors can network and support each other after they have overcome the abuse.

These points are incredibly encouraging as they all open possibilities for the campaign to make a real difference.  We are very excited about this research and how it can drive change to reduce domestic violence.  We feel deep gratitude for each person that has supported us through Global Giving. This is the start of a decisive and courageous campaign to confront effectively an issue that plagues all our countries, and one that we cannot take forward without you.  We look forward to the publication of the reserach report in March 2014 which will trigger the next phase of the campaign.