ABSTRACT
The research findings presented in a religiously literate understanding of the religion–gender nexus is indispensable for development policymakers and practitioners. Development organisations struggle to navigate complex societal norms, conflicting belief systems, political agendas, and conservative backlash. Gender studies are often little understood by project leaders and sometimes they are not read at all. A comprehensive and conceptually based gender analysis can illustrate the religion–gender intersections in a given context. Contrary to global policy pushes, practitioners show an overwhelming reluctance to engage with religion in practice and it continues to be largely left to individual discretion. Any effort to build religious literacy within development organisations must begin with overcoming the reluctance towards intersectional subjects. Moreover, a rising tide of political religion that is fixated on gender issues has further complicated the boundaries between patriarchy and religion.
