Prevention and Integration

On June 19 and 20, 2017, the Women’s Ministries Department of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church informed visitors to the largest European congress on prevention of crime and violence about the various initiatives of the church to end abuse and violence. The booth was staffed by representatives of the Women’s Ministries Department, including the directors in the German-speaking countries Angelika Pfaller, Heidi Albisser and Gerd-Laila Walter. They handed out flyers on domestic violence and sexual abuse, female genital mutilation and informed about the initiative enditnow with a large banner to which visitors to the booth could add their upheld handprints as a sign that they want to stop violence now. The Enditnow initiative was started in 2009 and is supported jointly by the Women’s Ministries Department, ADRA (the Disaster and Relief organization of the church) and other departments. A new flyer explained the orange day initiative of UN Women, which encourages people to wear orange on every 25th of a month, and to organize actions during the two weeks between November 25, the international day against gender-based violence and December 10, the human rights day.