Every November 25, the international community unites to say “enough” to violence against women and girls. As Daughters of Jesus, we join this global call on the
Violence against women is not an isolated event: it is a deep wound that crosses cultures, ages and countries. It is an injustice that violates the dignity of God’s daughters, breaks communities and perpetuates relationships marked by fear and silence.
As women’s religious life, we feel this cry in a particular way. We walk alongside so many women who seek to regain their voice, their integrity and their joy; women who carry stories of pain, but also of resilience and a faith capable of sustaining them even in the darkest night.
The UN’s call this 2025
The UN invites us every year to invest in prevention: to invest in education, in services that protect, in real public policies, in communities that care, and also – from our faith perspective – in cultivating more just, more humane and more Kingdom-like relationships.
Investing in prevention also means committing ourselves to creating spaces where women feel safe, accompanied and listened to. To question the dynamics that normalize inequality and violent treatment. To educate for a world where no one has to hide their pain or justify their body or their history.
It is a call that challenges us as a Congregation and as a Church, and that we wish to embrace with hope, compassion and determination.
In communion with FASFI: investing to transform lives
In this journey of hope and action, we want to highlight how the mission of FASFI -which supports educational projects, women’s empowerment, social inclusion and care for vulnerable communities in many countries, is a living testimony of the “invest for prevention” proposed by the United Nations.
FASFI’ s 2025 projects report shows initiatives in 11 countries that promote the education of girls, the training of women, the comprehensive accompaniment of families and the creation of safe environments. In this way, as Daughters of Jesus, we not only denounce injustice and violence, but also build concrete paths of transformation, because we believe that not losing hope means acting – and working together – so that every violated woman can recover her dignity and her life.
Uniting in faith: praying together for women who have suffered violence
On this day, we also want to pause to pray. To unite us from the depths of faith , remembering that Jesus always took the side of those who were marginalized, wounded or silenced.
We invite you to think of women we know – in our families, communities, missions; perhaps even in ourselves – and pray together this prayer based on a text by feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether. It is a prayer that embraces, lifts up and affirms the inviolable dignity of every wounded woman.
Prayer for a woman who has suffered violence
We love and affirm our sister (name), who has been wounded.
Though she has been wounded, she is not destroyed.
Though she has been degraded, she has not lost her integrity.
Though she has been subjected to horror, she is still beautiful.
Though evil has sought to take hold of her, she is still good.
Though lies try to blame her, she is still telling the truth.
We affirm her integrity, goodness, truthfulness and beauty.We ask our God -Mother and Father-
to dispel the forces of destruction, horror,
violence and lies
that seek to turn so many women into their victims.We ask you, Jesus, our brother,
to defend our sister,
as you defended the woman who was going to be stoned,
the woman with the flow of blood,
the woman bent over in the temple,
the Canaanite woman
and so many women who followed you and trusted you.We ask you, Ruah, Wisdom, Spirit of God,
feminine face of God,
to encourage women to break the cycle of silence, abuse and violence;
to nourish our anger and compassion in the face of all kinds of injustice;
to open our eyes and ears,
so that the pain of women may be heard
in our churches and communities.Amen.
(Based on a text by feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether)
