Thursday, November 25th, was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, this day marks the beginning of sixteen days of activism against gender violence across the globe. It will culminate in the observance of Human Rights Day on December 10, 2010.

As a U.S. born Christian religious leader, the proximity of this day to Thanksgiving and its overlap into the Advent season is not lost on me. In fact, I am challenged by where this global commemoration sits in relation the so-called ‘holiday season.’ Is my ability to combat gender injustice as fine tuned as my ability to observe the rites and rituals of the season?’ How does my faith inform my activism on behalf of the elimination of violence against women? And what are some of the faith-based and other resources I can rely on in this effort?

From November 25th to December 10th I will interrupt the usual pre-occupations of the season with a response to these questions. For sixteen days I will begin to build up a store-house of scriptural references, prayers, links, or other resources designed to equip religious leaders with some of the basic tools they need in order to make the elimination of violence against women a reality.

This article was originally published on the blog of Auburn Theological Seminary.