Navigating religious conservatism and sexual and reproductive health and rights: faith-informed peacebuilding in the Philippines

In response to religious conservatism in the Philippines, advocates of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) avoid religious conversations in their work. They frame SRHR through secular principles such as well-being and public health. This avoids confrontations with the religious sector, especially on issues related to the LGBTQ + community. But in a country where religion pervades public life, faith does matter, especially on sexual and reproductive health and rights. In this article, we examine the case of ILAW Shared Community. ILAW is an SRHR advocacy organisation in Iligan, a culturally and religiously diverse city in Mindanao. Based on interviews with stakeholders, we show that despite their secular discourse, faith is an inescapable reality in SRHR advocacy. In this article, we introduce the concept of faith-informed peacebuilding to refer to the activities of secular civil society organisations to acknowledge and engage the religious context to effectively address situations of conflict.