Online Reporter
Flora Teckie
Bahá’í Perspective
As we observe the International Day of Peace, on September 21, it is timely to reflect on the importance of empowering women as a prerequisite for building a peaceful world.
In the Bahá’í view, the education and empowerment of women and girls, and attaining their rightful and equal status with men, is essential to both individual progress and the transformation of our communities.
It is also a requirement for global peace and prosperity.
The Universal House of Justice, the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith, says in its statement titled: “The Promise of World Peace”: “The emancipation of women, the achievement of full equality between the sexes, is one of the most important, though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace.
“The denial of such equality perpetrates an injustice against one half of the world’s population. . . There are no grounds, moral, practical, or biological, upon which such denial can be justified.
“Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavour will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge”.
Humanity’s wellbeing depends on the development of the potential abilities and virtues of everyone. Girls and boys, and women and men must be given equal opportunity to access quality education in order to develop to their fullest potential.
The great need and priority today are bridging the gap between educating boys and girls. Education and empowerment of girls and women is in the best interests of our communities, and the global society.
Education, empowerment and equality of women
It is the Bahá’í view that we are all created equal by the Almighty Creator. As the Bahá’í Writings state: “God hath created all humankind in His own image, and after His own likeness” and “all mankind are the creatures and servants of one God, and in His estimate, all are human”.
The Bahá’í Writings also say that: “The rational soul has no gender, race, ethnicity or class, a fact that renders intolerable all forms of prejudice, not the least of which are those that prevent women from fulfilling their potential and engaging in various fields of endeavour shoulder to shoulder with men.”
While both parents should share in the overall responsibility of educating their children, the mother is given recognition as their first educator. The spiritual, emotional and intellectual education of women and girls is necessary because a mother cannot pass on what she does not have.
Furthermore, it is through educated mothers that the benefits of knowledge can be most effectively and rapidly diffused throughout society.
The Bahá’í vision of gender equality rests on the central spiritual principle of ‘the oneness of humanity’. In the context of the oneness of the human family, gender equality is not only a requirement of justice, but it is a pre-requisite for social progress, unity, and prosperity.
“Until the reality of equality between men and women is fully established and attained, the highest social development of mankind is not possible”, state the Bahá’í Writings.
Research on the status of women and gender relations shows the cost to society of the underdevelopment of women. Societies which oppress women have poorer economic, health, and social indicators.
According to the Universal House of Justice, “The equality of men and women is. . . a universal spiritual truth about an aspect of the nature of human beings . . . It is, above all, a requirement of justice.
“This principle is consonant with the highest rectitude of conduct, its application strengthens family life, and it is essential to the regeneration and progress of any nation, the peace of the world, and the advancement of civilisation”.
Acceptance and implementation of the equality of men and women require a shift in values, outlook, and conduct of both men and women, which can also transform the underlying ethos of social institutions.
In one of its statements, the Bahá’í International Community says: “While the equality of women and men is being increasingly acknowledged, this does not automatically eliminate the impediments that can obstruct its expression in every dimension of life”.
And “until these inequalities are thoroughly uprooted from the fabric of society, humanity will remain mired in the conflict, despair, confusion, and imbalance that have come to define much of modern life”.
The responsibility for the change that will bring about gender equality rests with both women and men. Women and men can build a more balanced, just and peaceful world.
The Bahá’í Writings state: “The creation of a peaceful and sustainable world civilisation will be impossible without the full participation of women in every arena of human activity”, and that “when women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world . . . war will cease”.
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