WCC FEATURE: Thursdays in Black boosts African church efforts against gender-based violence

When the car horn sounded at the gate, Nthenya (not her real name) always stood on the alert. A single blare meant peace, but if it persisted for three or four times, it signaled the time to run. All Africa Conference of Churches officials. Photo:  AACC 04 February 2026 At 32, the mother of two daughters had endured extreme beating and violence from a usually drunk husband in their eight years of marriage. “I would open the gate and run into my father-in-law's compound, with his son hot on my heels. The septuagenarian would hide me in a room while telling the son to go away,” said Nthenya. “I would stay there for days. Sometimes three or four or even a week.” “Last year, we had made peace, but when I asked for some merry-go-money he had borrowed, but he turned the fists on me. When I gained consciousness, I was in a hospital bed. I had stayed there for two months, but when I healed, I took the courage to quit the marriage,” she adds.   Such violence is the focus of Thursdays in Black, a global movement that resists rape and violence, common attitudes, and practices in Africa. In recent years, the continent’s churches embraced the movement, with officials wearing black or the button pins at work or in church. Brian Muyunga, executive secretary for Youth at the All Africa Conference of Churches, is the movement's ambassador in Africa. “The badge always reminds me of the many women suffering abuses and who the churches and the world need to speak for,” said Muyunga, who talks about the movement in formal and informal meetings. According to officials, the movement is amplifying the churches' collective efforts against sexual and gender-based violence, as it strengthens ecumenical solidarity against the challenge. “I am a participant every Thursday. I believe this an important call for an end to all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, but also promotion of critical values of peace, justice, and dignity,” said Ann Kioi, director of the Department of Gender, Women, Youth, and Sustainable Population at the African conference. According to Kioi, the movement is offering the churches a visible, prayerful, and prophetic space to stand against human rights violations, while calling the church to action against gender-based violence. Highlighting the significance of the movement, Anjeline Okola, programme coordinator for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, underlines that sexual violence has become a weapon of war, employed to humiliate, displace, dominate, and destroy women. “Here, especially in the high-conflict areas, the bodies of women and girls are not only collateral in war, but are its battleground,” she said. The official observed that women and girls with disabilities were more vulnerable to rape and violence based on the fact that their impairment limits their interaction with the environment in which they live and they are unable to defend themselves because of these limitations. “In most of the situations, the abusers are the carers and providers. So there is also a relationship of power and dependence, which makes the situation even worse,” said Okola. Churches, ecumenical bodies, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and women’s groups are sustaining the campaign, said Rev. Jackie Makena, with women being the most visible participants. The cleric from Methodist Church of Kenya, highlighted the need to encourage men to see gender justice not as a “women’s issue” but as a collective moral and social responsibility. “Some men participate, particularly clergy, youth leaders, and gender-justice advocates, but overall male engagement is still insufficient,” she said. Makena cites an attitudinal change, but warns that structural transformation is very slow. Learn more about Thursdays in Black 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 356 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 Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland