Centre for Muslim-Christian Interfaith Clergy Engagement on Domestic Violence

The Centre for Muslim–Christian Interfaith Clergy Engagement on Domestic Violence advances interdisciplinary research and practice on interfaith collaboration as a pathway to preventing and responding to domestic violence in multireligious societies. Situated within the Institute of Domestic Violence, Religion & Migration, the Centre specialises in the development of interfaith models of engagement that bring Muslim and Christian clerics together in ways that are theologically informed, culturally grounded, and responsive to diverse social and institutional contexts.

The Centre is grounded in the recognition that religious leaders play a pivotal role in shaping moral norms, family practices, and community responses to violence, particularly in contexts where faith institutions hold significant social authority. In multireligious settings, however, domestic violence responses are often fragmented along religious lines, and interfaith mistrust or limited dialogue can hinder collective action. The Centre addresses this gap by advancing interfaith training frameworks that enable Muslim and Christian clerics to engage constructively with domestic violence as a shared ethical and social concern.

Building on a novel typology of clergy training approaches and an original conceptual framework for interfaith engagement developed with support from the Gingko Library, the Centre produces evidence-based, transferable models for interfaith clergy training. These models are designed to be adaptable across denominations, cultures, and migration contexts, and to support coordinated, faith-informed domestic violence prevention and response.

As a Centre, we are especially interested in:

• Developing, piloting, and evaluating innovative interfaith training models that engage Muslim and Christian clerics together across religious traditions, denominations, and cultural contexts.
• Assessing the strengths and limitations of theologically grounded, secular, and hybrid approaches to interfaith clergy training on domestic violence, and identifying the conditions under which each approach is most effective.
• Examining the role of interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding as a foundation for mobilising coordinated domestic violence responses in multireligious and conflict-affected societies.
• Strengthening the capacity of religious leaders to act as agents of prevention and referral, supporting survivor safety, ethical guidance, and collaboration with statutory and community-based services.
• Contributing to policy and practice debates on religion and violence prevention, particularly in contexts of migration, pluralism, and social fragmentation.

Centre Leads and Members