WCC INTERVIEW: Brian Muyunga envisions “a just society where men and women feel safe, protected, and respected”

Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Brian Muyunga is a youth member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee and executive committee, and a member of the WCC Commission for Youth in the Ecumenical Movement. He serves as executive secretary for youth at the All Africa Conference of Churches. Brian Muyunga is a youth member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee and executive committee, and a member of the WCC Commission for Youth in the Ecumenical Movement. He serves as executive secretary for youth at the All Africa Conference of Churches. 18 July 2024 What aspects of gender-based violence most concern you? Muyunga: I’m very concerned about the occurrence of rape and defilement in our communities and countries, that are badly affecting our people, and you can see this with the rise in teenage pregnancies and teenage parenthood. I’m very disturbed by the occurrence of femicides across the world and also the use of rape as a weapon of war in places where people are facing conflicts. How can Thursdays in Black be part of the solution? Muyunga: Thursdays in Black gives us a gateway through which we can initiate, hold, and sustain conversations on sexual and gender-based violence even in contexts where having such conversations seems to be difficult. It is a way of expressing solidarity with victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, making them know that we recognize their pain, their challenge, making them understand that we are together, working for a world without rape and violence, and we are doing this together with them, working together with one another. Thursdays in Black is also an opportunity for us to express our determination in building the peaceful and just communities that we all desire, that we want to live in but also that we want to leave behind for the coming generations. What is needed to overcome gender-based violence? Muyunga: We need to identify, defy, but also transform every cultural and religious teachings, values, norms, and practices that promote gender stereotypes and ideologies that continue sustaining and propagating gender inequalities. We also need to identify, embrace, and promote gender attitudes that are life-affirming and protect the dignity of every human being irrespective of their gender. Any closing remarks? Muyunga: As a Thursdays in Black ambassador, I believe that I can inspire young people within my sphere of influence to learn to live differently, to learn to embrace transformative masculinities and femininities, ways of being man and woman, that are built on the principles of love, mutual respect for one another, gender equity and equality—and have no room for violence. I believe I can play a critical role in creating awareness about the practical steps that our churches are taking in ensuring they are contributing to societies and to a world that is free from rape and any of form of violence. Thank you so much and, please, I invite you to join me in creating a just society where men and women feel safe, protected, and respected. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland