Good things come in doubles! On this special bonus episode, our guests dive deeper into age-appropriate sexuality education. In a candid conversation, Ustadha Aisha and Margaret Nyambura discuss reservations, myths and misconceptions. The conversation starts on a question to Ustadha Aisha: “As a religious leader and teacher, when you hear the term ‘comprehensive sexual education’, what does that mean to you, and what concerns does it raise for you?”   Ustadha Aisha and Margaret Nyambura have both been guests on this Faith, Freedom and Feminism series. In case you haven’t, do tune into those episodes as well. Ustadha Aisha is an Islamic teacher running a community-based organization, Soma Mama CBO, and a community centre, Darul Kheir Community Centre, both in Mukuru slums. Through her initiatives, Ustadha advocates for the education of Muslim women.  Margaret Nyambura is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She serves as Program Coordinator at the Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN). She is a Catholic who’s passionate about health law, and access to SRHR.  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

Continuing our solutions-oriented leg of the series, we speak with Margaret Nyambura, a health advocate and Program Coordinator at KELiN. Yes, we have another Nyambura in studio! We are talking about age-appropriate sexuality education. What does it mean? What other terms are used? What are the myths and misconceptions we need to unpack? We also get into the historicity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Kenya and statistics on teen pregnancy. Can we curb this through education? Join us to find out and share your thoughts.   This is a two-part episode. In case you missed it, do tune in to the first part, where we discuss the link between SRHR, SGBV and religious norms.  Margaret Nyambura is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She serves as Program Coordinator at the Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN). She is a Catholic who’s passsionate about health law, and access to SRHR.  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

Continuing our solutions-oriented leg of the series, we speak with Margaret Nyambura, a health advocate and Program Coordinator at KELiN. Yes, we have another Nyambura in studio! We unpack how   religious norms and sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) are related. What can religious leaders and their communities do to improve/promote/safeguard the uptake of SRHR for women and girls? As we dive into this discussion, we also unpack “what’s politics got to do with it?” Nyambura Margaret explains how policies are formulated in Kenya and why we should understand how laws speak to each other. We also speak about SGBV and obstetrics violence. What needs to be done? Grab your notepads for this one!  This is a two-part episode, so do also tune in to the second part, where we unpack age-appropriate sexuality education.  Margaret Nyambura is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She serves as Program Coordinator at the Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN). She is a Catholic who’s passsionate about health law, and access to SRHR.  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

On this episode, we speak with Ustadha Aisha, about women in Islam. Buidling on our conversation with Sheikh Lithome (Episode 4), we break myths and misconceptions against women in Islam. We explore how religious leaders and activists can come together to fight SGBV against women in Islam. What does Ustadha Aisha say? - Education is at the centre of it all!  Ustadha Aisha is doing great work in her community! She is an Islamic teacher running a community-based organization, Soma Mama CBO, and a community centre, Darul Kheir Community Centre, both in Mukuru slums. Through her initiatives, Ustadha advocates for the education of Muslim women. She says, “As long as a Muslim woman is educated, she is able to take care of herself and her community!” Tune in!  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya. Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

Welcome back to the Swaiba Podcast Faith, Feminism and Freedom Series! In the first five episodes of this series, we spoke with religious leaders and activists to establish the state of religious norms and SGBV in Kenya. In the upcoming episodes, we are looking forward in a solutions-oriented manner.  On this episode, we speak with Ms. Tabitha Saoyo Griffith, as we seek to bridge the conversation between religious leaders and activists. Is there common ground? How do they work together to combat SGBV in Kenya?   Tabitha is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over eight years' experience navigating the policy, human rights, health and governance spaces in East Africa. Her special bias is in Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, particularly having engaged in programs targeted at addressing unsafe abortion, sexual violence, forced sterilization and teen pregnancies. She has also worked in private practice, served at the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya and consulted for UNDP in contextualizing HIV and the linkages to sexual and gender-based violence. Until recently, she was the Deputy Director and Head of Programs at KELIN, a Kenyan NGO working on health-related rights.  Tabitha holds a LLB (Moi University), Post Graduate Diploma in Law (Kenya School of Law), and LLM (University of Pretoria). She is an Aspen New Voices Fellow 2019 and Law Society of Kenya Pro-Bono Jurist 2019. She currently sits as a Board Member at Amnesty Interantional Kenya Board and the Emergency Medical Kenya Foundation Board.  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

“Does being a church leader stop me from being human?” asks Rev. Dr. Pauline Wanjiru. On this episode, Rev. Dr. Pauline shares her journey through seeking divorce as a church leader. We explore the narrative ‘God hates divorce’ and the need for more open conversations around separation and divorce in the church. How do we transition young adults into courtship and marriage? And what is the impact of divorce on the children?   Rev. Dr. Pauline Wanjiru is a scholar and theologian who has played a critical role in ensuring resilience within faith communities on HIV/AIDS matters. She promotes the uptake of sexual and reproductive health rights and once lost her job after speaking up for an SGBV survivor. She is an Anglican priest celebrating 30 years of ordination. She currently serves at the World Council of Churches as the Eastern Africa Regional Coordinator for the Churches’ Commission for Health and Healing Progamme.  This is Part 2 of a 2-Part episode. If you haven’t already, check out Part 1, which focuses on reimagining faith approaches to gender injustices.   Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

On this episode, Rev. Dr. Pauline Wanjiru challenges faith leaders to speak to the changing contexts of the world; to evangelize while trusting their members and congregations to make their own informed choices; and to involve young people in all matters that affect their lives. We ask: what is causing the rollback on gender gains? Rev. Dr. Wanjiru identifies the disconnect between the church and its congregation and encourages progressive approaches that faith leaders should adopt to tackle gender injustices.   Rev. Dr. Pauline Wanjiru is a scholar and theologian who has played a critical role in ensuring resilience within faith communities on HIV/AIDS matters. She promotes the uptake of sexual and reproductive health rights and once lost her job after speaking up for an SGBV survivor. She is an Anglican priest celebrating 30 years of ordination. She currently serves at the World Council of Churches as the Eastern Africa Regional Coordinator for the Churches’ Commission for Health and Healing Progamme.  This is Part 1 of a 2-Part episode. Stay tuned for Part 2, which focuses on divorce in the church.  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

On this episode, Nyambura speaks with Sheikh Ibrahim Lithome about the place of women in religion. How, if at all, does it differ with the place of men? They venture into the teachings of Islam and how Muslim women ought to be seen and treated.  Sheikh Lithome is a Lawyer and Muslim religious scholar based at Jamia Mosque. He has worked extensively in countering and preventing violent extremism. He is passionate about the role of religion in society.  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

What are African Christian Ethics and how are they formulated? On the third episode of the Faith, Feminism and Freedom series, we speak with Venerable Brian Odhiambo to discuss this and more. We examine how people interpret scripture and how those religious norms and interpretations impact women and SGBV.   Ven. Odhiambo is an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Machakos and a Part-time Lecturer taking Systematic Theology, Ethics and Philosophy courses. He is committed to having a practical approach to ministry and service, with real impact.  Continue following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast 

"Religious leaders need to listen. ... When we listen and put a human face to people, then we will realize that actually, there is much more we don't know," Prof Esther Mombo.  On Episode 2 of the Swaiba Faith, Feminism and Freedom series, we continue to explore how religious norms reinforce gender-based violence against women and gender minorities. We turn to theology with the phenomenal Prof. Esther Mombo. She is an Associate Professor in the Theology Department at St. Paul's Limuru. She teaches Church History and Theology from Women's Perspectives and inter-faith courses. Prof. Mombo is passionate about finding spaces to visibilize rather than invisibilize gender and sexual minorities.  Prof. Mombo highlights the need to dialogue and the importance of religion not only listening to, but also adequately addressing the lived realities of the population.    Keep following our series as we explore the link between religious norms and SGBV in Kenya.  Follow Swaiba Podcast on all socials: @swaibapodcast