Here you will find information and resources related to issues that challenge women in today’s world.
LATEST ADDITIONS:
“Their Silence Fills the Earth”, commentary by Bishop Bruce R. Ough, Minnesota Annual Conference
“Silence Can Be Just as Painful as Violence”, Domestic Violence Shares
Sexual misconduct at church: What every member should know
Every 98 seconds, another person experiences sexual assault
UNITED METHODIST AFFIRMATIONS AND BELIEFS ON SEXUAL ABUSE AND HARASSMENT
OUR BELIEFS:
WHAT WE BELIEVE in terms of sexual harassment, abuse, and violence:
We believe human sexuality is God’s good gift. One abuse of this good gift is sexual harassment. We define sexual harassment as any unwanted sexual comment, advance, or demand, either verbal or physical, that is reasonably perceived by the recipient as demeaning, intimidating, or coercive. Sexual harassment must be understood as an exploitation of a power relationship rather than as an exclusively sexual issue. Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, the creation of a hostile or abusive working environment resulting from discrimination on the basis of gender.
Contrary to the nurturing community, sexual harassment creates improper, coercive, and abusive conditions wherever it occurs in society. Sexual harassment undermines the social goal of equal opportunity and the climate of mutual respect between men and women. Unwanted sexual attention is wrong and discriminatory. Sexual harassment interferes with the moral mission of the Church.
Sexual Abuse
Violent, disrespectful, or abusive sexual expressions do not confirm sexuality as God’s good gift. We reject all sexual expressions that damage the humanity God has given us as birthright, and we affirm only that sexual expression that enhances that same humanity….
Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is wrong. We affirm the right of all people to live free from such assaults, encourage efforts of law enforcement to prosecute such crimes, and condemn rape in any form. It does not matter where the person is, what the person is wearing, whether or not he or she is intoxicated, if he or she is flirtatious, what is the victim’s gender, or any other circumstance.
United Methodist Book of Discipline, Social Principles, “The Nurturing Community”
OUR RESPONSE:
Here you will find multiple resources for education, response, and advocacy.
Statistics on sexual violence from Faith Trust Institute. http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/resources/statistics/sexual-violence
“What religious leaders can do to respond to sexual violence” from FaithTrust Institute. http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/resources/articles/What-Religious-Leaders-Can-Do.pdf
“Healing from Abuse: How to be a resource for survivors” recorded webinar from FaithTrust Institute. http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/training/events/70112000000kXp8AAE
United Methodist Women’s “I Believe You” Faith’s Response to Intimate Partner Violence documentary trailer, toolkit and discussion guide: https://www.unitedmethodistwomen.org/domestic-violence/ibelieveyou
List of books on domestic violence
http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/store/domestic-violence/books
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women http://gcsrw.org/
United Methodist Sexual Ethics http://umsexualethics.org/
ABOUT COSROW AND ITS WORK:
The purpose of the North Carolina Conference Commission on the Status and Role of Women is to foster an awareness of issues, problems, and concerns related to the status and role of women, with special reference to their full participation in the total life of the Church at least commensurate with the total membership of women in the Conference.
The Conference COSROW exists as a free-standing committee for the first time in many years. In this first year (2017), our primary goals are:
- Increase awareness within the conference of the existence, purpose, and work of COSROW.
- LISTEN to the real experiences of people in the conference related to the full participation of women at all levels of the UMC. We will welcome stories of celebration in examples of success in this area, and be especially attentive to areas where we may not be reaching the height of full participation of women in the UMC in our conference. From a series of listening sessions across the conference, we will then set our priorities for specific, achievable goals for the quadrennium.
- Develop partnerships with other conference groups to work collaboratively toward the goal of full participation of women on every level of the NCCUMC.
Contact Rev. Christi Dye for more information at cdye@nccumc.org.
Be sure to check out the Timeline of Women’s Suffrage
Helpful links:
United Methodist Sexual Ethics
The video below is from the North Alabama Conference. (If viewing time is limited, stop the video after the first 5 minutes.)
This video explains the rationale for a change in our Constitution that will be voted on during the 2017 Annual Conference sessions across the church.
The video below recognizes the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women.
And, in honor of the 60th anniversary of full clergy rights of women in The United Methodist Church: