Advancement of Women

Advancement of Women

Overview

For sixty years, the Bahá'í International Community’s United Nations Office has worked for women’s advancement and gender equality, through its participation and contributions to the session of the Commission on the Status of Women, through strengthening the UN’s gender mechanisms and through supporting the programmes and implementation efforts of its national affiliates. Our office has played a lead role in bringing women’s voices from around the world to bear on UN issues. Along with our national affiliates, we have been involved in each of the UN world conferences on women and children and led the NGO Committee on the Status of Women during the 4th World Conference on Women (Beijing). We continue to work closely with UNICEF and UNIFEM to address issues related to women's and girls' education, their health and security, racism, and violence against women. We believe that the achievement of full equality between the sexes is one of the most important prerequisites of peace.

UN Commission on the Status of Women, High-Level Roundtable on “Financing gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

Highlights of Recent Activities

• CSW Report Page: A full description of our activities at the Commision for the Status of Women. More...
• Ms. Sarah Vader, Representative of the Bahá'í International Community, made a statement on violence against women at the 7th session of the Human Rights Council. The statement was delivered in the context of the report submitted by Special Rapporteur on violence against women.
• Dr. Augusto Lopez Claros, a noted international economist, representing the Bahá'í International Community made a statement to the UN CSW High-Level Roundtable on “Financing gender equality and the empowerment of women.” Press release
• Ms. Fulya Vekiloglu, Representative of the Bahá'í International Community and Co-Chair of the Working Group on Girls, made a statement  to the UN CSW High-Level Roundtable on “Financing gender equality and the empowerment of women.”
• BIC issued a statement titled, "Mobilizing Institutional, Legal and Cultural Resources to Achieve Gender Equality" addressing the themes of the 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women.  
• BIC co-sponsored a panel discussion titled, “The Responsibilities of State and Non-State Actors in Creating Preventive Measures to Eradicate Violence Against Women and Girls” to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The discussion was co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of France and The Netherlands and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women.  

Recent Publications and Reports

• Mobilizing Institutional, Legal and Cultural Resources to Achieve Gender Equality.  BIC statement to the 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
• News Update – Fall 2007. Features news about Bahá'í communities and their Offices for the Advancement of Women. The Update features stories from Baha'i communities in India, Bolivia, Sweden, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• BIC's statement on Violence Against Women, "Beyond Legal Reforms: Culture and Capacity in the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls"

Positions on Selected Issues

Role of men and boys in the advancement of women

Boys must be raised with an understanding of the equality of women and men and be prepared to work together with women as equal partners in all fields of human endeavor. Failure to educate boys for equality will have devastating consequences not only for girls, but also for society as a whole. As long as the oppression of women is tolerated, men will continue to harbor harmful attitudes and habits that they carry from the family to the work place, to political life and ultimately to international relations. Because the attitude of superiority, fostered in men by erroneous beliefs, is often unconscious, programs should be instituted to sensitize males, both boys and men, to the ways in which they may unknowingly discourage girls and block their progress.[1] More...

Equality and the girl child

Not only must girl children receive adequate food, health care, and education, they must be given every opportunity to develop their capacities. As women become educated and enter all fields of human endeavor, they will make unique contributions to the creation of a just world order -- an order characterized by vigor, cooperation, harmony, and a degree of compassion never before witnessed in history. In addition, as mothers they render an invaluable service to humanity by educating the next generation. In that capacity they will be the primary agents for the transformation of society. The dual responsibility of developing the child's character and stimulating the intellect belongs not only to the mother, but to the family as a whole and to the community.[2] More...

Role of religion in the advancement of women

Every religion, particularly in its early stages, has evoked a new vision for society, articulated values consonant with that vision, and inspired both personal and institutional transformation. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that religion has also been a source of division and social fragmentation. Religious leaders and people of faith today have a special responsibility to reaffirm those spiritual and ethical principles capable of transforming human relationships in a way that allows every soul to develop and express its capacities.

The personal transformation required for true equality will undoubtedly be difficult for men and women alike. Both must relinquish all attachment to guilt and blame and courageously assume responsibility for their own part in transforming the societies in which they live. Men must use their influence, particularly in the civil, political and religious institutions they control, to promote the systematic inclusion of women, not out of condescension or presumed self-sacrifice but out of the belief that the contributions of women are required for society to progress. Women, for their part, must become educated and step forward into all arenas of human activity, contributing their particular qualities, skills and experience to the social, economic and political equation.[3] More...

Ending violence against women

Violence against women is a yardstick by which one can measure the violation of all human rights. It can be used to gauge the degree to which a society is governed by aggression, dominated by competition and ruled by force. Abusive practices against women have frequently been and are still being justified in the context of cultural norms, religious beliefs and unfounded "scientific theories" and assumptions. Whatever its political or religious system, a society patterned on dominance inevitably gives rise to such distortions of power as violence against women. Violence against women degrades not only the victim but the perpetrator as well; those who inflict violence on women are themselves among the casualties of power-based systems. More...

AIDS and gender equality

The denial of equality to women not only promotes in men harmful attitudes and habits that affect their families, the workplace, political decisions and international relations; it also contributes substantially to the spread of HIV/AIDS and retards the progress of society. Notice how culturally accepted social inequalities conspire with economic vulnerability to leave women and girls with little or no power to reject unwanted or unsafe sex. Yet, once infected with HIV/AIDS, women are often stigmatized as the source of the disease and persecuted, sometimes violently. Meanwhile, the burden of caring for people living with HIV/AIDS and for children orphaned by the disease falls predominantly on women. Traditional gender roles that have gone unquestioned for generations must now be re-examined in the light of justice and compassion. Ultimately, nothing short of a spiritual transformation will move men--and women--to forego the behaviors that contribute to the spread of AIDS. Such a transformation is as important for men as it is for women, because "As long as women are prevented from attaining their highest possibilities, so long will men be unable to achieve the greatness which might be theirs". More...

[1] Empowering Girls. Bahá'í International Community statement to the 42nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. 2-13 March 1998.  http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/98-0303.htm

[2] Equality and the Girl Child. Statement to the 36th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Priority Theme: Equality. 17 March 1992.  http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/92-0317.htm

[3] The Role of Religion in Promoting the Advancement of Women. Written statement to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. 13 September 1995. http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/92-0317.htm