1. Women and men are inherently equal in capacity and nobility. This conviction is more widely accepted today, setbacks notwithstanding, than in any previous period of human history. Multitudes around the world have concluded that any social order worthy of our aspiration must be one in which women and men are afforded the same opportunities and respect. Through interpretations of scripture and the stirrings of conscience, the findings of science and the needs of society, growing numbers have become convinced that the path stretching out before an ever-advancing civilization leads toward equality. 

2. For Bahá’ís, the equality of women and men is not simply a sign of rising social consciousness. Rather, it is a divine reality ordained by the One Creator. “Women and men have been and will always be equal in the sight of God,” wrote Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith. Such words, central to Bahá’í identity and practice, are first and foremost a call to action. For equality is not the lived reality for vast segments of humanity. In some parts of the world, women face discrimination that is overt and unabashed, enshrined into law and codified into policy. In other parts, greater willingness to pay lip service to the ideal of equality obscures realities that are equally pernicious - a stubborn linking of female worth with sexuality and shallow definitions of physical beauty, for example, or the need to adopt distorted conceptions of male identity to be found acceptable for positions of leadership. 

3. Inherited norms of what is acceptable between the sexes have been shaken to their foundations in recent years. To take just one example, in business and government, entertainment and sport - and, sadly, in religious institutions as well - incidents of abuse that until recently would have been concealed have been roundly and publicly condemned. This has been captured in popular consciousness by various movements and campaigns that seek to give visibility to experiences that were previously confined to the personal and the private. But such movements are ultimately fueled by something much deeper: the irrepressible desire for respect, dignity, and gender equality to find expression in the institutions and relationships of society. And it is to this longing, legitimate and springing from the depths of the human soul, that we turn our attention today. 

4. On moral grounds, it is clear that the persistent denial of equality to half the world’s population is an affront to human dignity. But there is also growing recognition of the heavy societal costs and dangers that a population invites by clinging to the ways of oppression and marginalization. When a society refuses to fully draw on the strengths of all segments of its membership, frustration mounts. Signs of unrest grow. And even if a semblance of order is maintained, the social order becomes increasingly fragile and precarious. It is no exaggeration to say that the stability of society rests in large part, today, on the principle of gender equality.

5. As this principle is vast and its implications numerous, I will limit myself today to exploring three central convictions found within the teachings of Baha’u’llah.

   1. The first is that gender equality is a divine reality, and as such is a prerequisite for progress in all areas of collective life

   2. The second is that humanity is approaching its age of collective maturity, and that inequality of any kind, particularly gender, is a form of prejudice that is incompatible with that maturity.

   3. The third is that religion will be central to generating the commitment and determination needed to bring about a society reflecting true gender equality.  

6. I will explore these propositions through the history and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, as well as the experience of Bahá’í communities around the world working to put this  principle into practice. I will also draw from the experience of the Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office, for which I currently serve as the principal representative. 

Gender equality as a divine reality 

7. Central to our exploration of the principle of the equality of women and men is the proposition, found across the world’s religious systems, that human reality transcends corporeal existence alone. In this light, the equality to be found between some seven billion individuals is not grounded in the physical body or even the attainments of the mind. Rather it is based in that which is eternal and transcendent in human beings. And from this vantage point, what some have called the soul, we can plainly see that neither sex is more or less equipped to elevate the character and foster the well-being of humankind. From here, it becomes apparent that women and men are equally capable of identifying needs, imagining possibilities, and creating new realities. They are equally capable of building capacity within themselves and others to contribute to the common good. They are equally as capable of manifesting the noble qualities of an all-loving creator. 

8. Consciousness of the innate equality of women and men is incompatible with complacency and passivity. The soul that recognizes gender equality as an expression of the Divine Will is immediately confronted with a host of questions that speak to the very foundations of society. If, for example, we are all equal at the most basic level, how is that equality given expression in the external world? How does it inform the way that we organize our institutions, markets, and relationships? How does it impact our systems of governance, employment, criminal justice, and education? Just as importantly, what are the implications of not infusing our social order with an unshakable commitment to the equality of women and men? Do we believe that failing to do so simply perpetuates a long-standing injustice toward women and girls? Or is it that we, as entire societies, are thwarted, halted, hamstrung, and incapacitated - that we are drained of the ability to advance and prosper together? 

9. The heights to which humanity can progress are virtually limitless. But this potential cannot be realized by any one group alone, according to its particular preferences and perspectives. Just as a prospering global civilization will not be brought about by, for example, one economic class acting on behalf of another, neither will it be brought about by anything less than a full, and complete partnership between the sexes. The Bahá’í writings explore this theme by likening the world of humanity to a bird possessed of two wings, male and female. “So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly,”  the writings state. But when they become commensurate in strength, and when they enjoy the same prerogatives, the flight of humankind is promised to be “exceedingly lofty and extraordinary.” 

10. The equality of strength mentioned here suggests the equitable distribution of resources between the sexes, which will be needed in law and policy, as well as at the level of the community, the neighborhood, the family, and the marriage. But the complex dynamics of flight suggest further implications. For humanity to soar, its wings must be coordinated as well as strong. They must be able to act in concert, responding to one another with attention and sensitivity. They must be able to give way or take on burden when circumstances require it. And they must be directed toward the same goal. Otherwise progress will falter.

11. In striving to put these ideals into practice, is important to recognize that gender equality applies as fully to men as it does to women. The Bahá’í writings state that, “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”. Within such a framework, men and boys would work for the advancement of women not merely out of a sense of moral obligation but also because their own fate and well-being depend on it. They are incapable of realizing their greatest potential alone. They are dependent on women in ways that are profound and inescapable. But dependence of this kind, expressed through relationships of mutual support and assistance, is a source of great strength, not weakness.Through it, expression is given to the fundamental principle of universal participation in the advancement of society - that the talents of all must be incorporated and celebrated if it is to be said that progress is being made. 

12. Equality between the sexes is a prerequisite for progress in every area of collective life. How could it be otherwise? The imperatives of this divine truth stop at the bounds of no field or discipline. They exempt no arena of activity from their compelling influence. “Let it be known once more,” the Bahá’í writings state, “that until woman and man recognize and realize equality, social and political progress here or anywhere will not be possible.” In the advancement of education and understanding, the establishment of health and well-being, the abolition of war, the eradication of poverty, the stewardship of the natural world - in the pursuit of all of humanity’s most cherished aspirations, equality between the sexes is a non-negotiable prerequisite.

13. Far from hyperbole or rhetorical flourish, what is being proposed here is a clear assertion of fact. “Let it be known once more that until woman and man recognize and realize equality, social and political progress here or anywhere will not be possible.” This is a proposition that can be tested and explored. The relationship between gender equality and social progress can be investigated through real life interaction, its elements observed, refined, put into practice. Academic research has a role to play, but this is work that all of us can pursue in our neighborhoods, workplaces, communities, and social circles. Do we believe that progress requires gender equality? Would we be able to articulate why that might be true to someone who did not already believe it? Would we be able to help that person explain to his or her friends why gender equality is indispensable to human advancement? Such questions challenge us all to reassess our understanding of the nature of progress and what will be required - of ourselves and society at large -  to bring it about. 

Gender equality and humanity’s coming of age

14. The second main point I will touch on concerns the unique potential, as well as the pressing obligations, of the historical moment in which we live. Taken in its entirety, humanity is never static, but ever evolving and progressing. Scientific and technological advancement, for example, has deepened our understanding of the physical environment and expanded our capacity to take advantage of its many forces and laws. Innovations in governance, administration, and communication have allowed society to be organized at increasing levels of size and complexity, thereby expanding the magnitude of collective endeavors that can be undertaken. And developments in the spiritual and moral sphere have extended the bounds of consideration and concern, refined the kinds of conduct that can be considered decent and humane, and elevated the vision of what human beings can and must be together. 

15. In such developments can be seen the collective maturation, however incremental and painstaking it might sometimes seem, of humanity. Just as an individual passes through periods of infancy, childhood, and adolescence, the human race in its entirety has passed through successive stages of collective development, refining new abilities and facing increasingly complex challenges. This has led to the present moment, in which the the interdependence of the nations of the world has become undeniable and, indeed, irreversible. The story of humanity as a single people in a common global homeland is starting to be told, and systems and structures that were founded on more limited loyalties of the past are beginning to break down, one by one. This transition is not without discomfort. Behind much of the turbulence and commotion of contemporary life can be seen the fits and starts of a humanity struggling to come of age. But these processes of disintegration tend to sweep away barriers and open space for new forms of collaboration and cooperation that draw more fully on the combined capacity of an infinitely diverse humanity. Consciousness of this oneness of humankind is central to the establishment of an integrated global civilization. And in the view of Bahá’ís, it constitutes one of the hallmarks of humanity’s dawning age of maturity. 

16. This is the context within which Bahá’ís understand work toward gender equality must be pursued. Progress in every age depends on a deep understanding of the realities of that particular period. “Every age hath its own problem,” Baha’u’llah declared, going on to counsel the people of the world that “the remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require.” The equality of women and men is a truth that has existed since the dawn of time. But consciousness of it has been limited throughout the long ages of humanity’s childhood and adolescence. In the past, women were often regarded as an inferior breed, denied the opportunity to express their innate potential, and relegated to the role of serving the needs of men. Such attitudes continue in countless societies, of course. And yet, in the final analysis, they have not been able to withstand the test of time. As understanding of the limitless potentialities of the human spirit has advanced, those who would assert male supremacy through word or deed find no moral or ethical grounds from which to do so. And lacking that, they find themselves compelled to appeal to the basest inclinations of self-interest, greed, and fear. 

17. What becomes clear is that some of the social forces at work in the world propel the cause of gender equality, while others retard it. Among the latter is unthinking imitation of the past. The appeal to tradition has been used to justify countless forms of injustice, from the denial of education, to exclusion from public life, to the sanctioning of domestic violence. The replication of gender discrimination from generation to generation is a related, but often more subtle and evasive challenge. In this regard, care must be taken not only to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, but also to avoid inventing new and ever-changing expressions of age-old biases. 

18. Another driver of gender inequality is what might be characterized as superstitions about women. These include the fantastic and the outrageous, which survive in some parts of world. But they also include assertions that seek to clothe themselves in the garb of respectability - claims about women’s ability to lead effectively, to make decisions under pressure, to exercise sound judgment. Follies of this kind must be rooted out of religious expression and cultural practice. But they must also be eradicated in other areas, such as scientific inquiry, where various theories of male supremacy have sought legitimacy in the supposed finding of anatomy or physiology. 

19. To these must be added the misguided efforts of those who believe their own interests to be advanced by the status quo, and who are guided only by the compass of personal advantage - those who see the subjugation of women for what it is and work to perpetuate it, regardless.

20. Fueling these and countless other inequities is the spiritual disease of prejudice. The assertion of one’s superiority over his or her neighbor has been the source of incalculable suffering over the course of human history, from ruinous wars to daily acts of indifference and hardness of heart. In earlier ages, limitations in travel and communication obscured the oneness of humankind and reinforced perceptions of otherness. Today, it is not only possible but necessary to see the entire planet and its many inhabitants from one global perspective. Growing awareness of this oneness of the human family has undermined justifications offered in support of prejudices of race, nationality, and ethnicity. So, too, must its implications recast every facet of the relationship between women and men. “Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?” asks the voice of the Divine, as recorded in the writings of Baha’u’llah. “That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created.” 

21. The human drive toward unity, unfolding within the context of justice, is one of the most powerful means by which gender discrimination can be eradicated. In the past, recognition of the equality of those previously considered inferior was often driven by external circumstances, such as the shifting lines of political or military power. Today, as humanity prepares to assume the responsibilities of maturity, this work must be undertaken more consciously and intentionally. We must explore, at ever deeper levels, the countless implications of the truth, expressed so long ago, that all human beings are created in the image of God. And as we do, we will both draw from and contribute to those forces of integration and construction that propel the establishment of equality, forces such as the human desire to know and to understand, the universal attraction to that which is beautiful and true, the drive to imagine a better future and commit ourselves to its realization.   

The role of religion in bringing about gender equality

22. Advancing the cause of gender equality will require countless projects, programs, and campaigns. But efforts to build communities that increasingly reflect the light of equality will also have to concern themselves with those modes of expression and patterns of thought and behavior that characterize a given people. They must, in short, enter the realm of culture. For in the final analysis, many of the questions most central to the emergence of a prospering and equitable global civilization are to be addressed at the level of culture.  

23. What are the qualities for which girls and women are valued by society? What are the bounds of action and agency accorded to them? What is the range of their capacities understood to be? Questions such as these are woven deeply into the fabric of society. They touch on some of our most foundational beliefs about ourselves and the appropriate ordering of society. And, because such issues are so close to the heart, they can seem almost impervious to change. Yet religion has played this very function time and again throughout history. “Is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind,” Baha’u’llah asks, “a transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions?” 

24. It must be plainly acknowledged that organized religion has all too often acted as one of the most formidable obstacles to the advancement of women and the establishment of gender equality. Its authority has, to take just one example, been lent to a variety of damaging cultural practices, resulting in countless pure-hearted and faithful women not only suffering the indignity of oppression, but being told that those injustices were the will of God. 

25. This is a grave betrayal of trust that we, as people of faith and promoters of equality, must neither deny nor excuse. But we also know that, when faithful to the spirit of those transcendent figures that gave the world its great belief systems, religion has been central to the reformation of moral character and the advancement of civilization. In every age, religion has provided the true lens by which people of good will can discern which elements of their culture are aligned with the Divine Will and should be fostered, and which are contrary to human well-being and should be allowed to fall away. It has provided the motivating force needed to shoulder responsibility for making those changes. And it has unlocked the commitment needed to sustain such efforts not just for days or weeks, but over the course of years on end. Indeed, it is through the vivifying waters of religion than many a soul has found the stores of purpose and strength needed to walk a path of service throughout the entirety of a lifetime. 

26. This brings me to the third main theme I will touch on today - the role to be played by religion and religious communities in bringing about gender equality. Attention is often given to trying to define what religion is, considering structural elements such as texts, authorities, interpretations, and rituals. My focus will be more on what religion does, what it can and must do to advance the position of humanity. In this sense, religion might be understood as a means to awaken and cultivate, at the practical and grassroots level, the high-minded and noble attributes latent in every soul. In this light, religious communities can come to function as communities of practice where spiritual principles such as the equality of women and men are applied thoughtfully to the life of society, for the benefit of all. Within them, a process of capacity building that enables increasing numbers to participate in the transformation of society – and protects and nurtures them – can be set in motion. 

27. Considerable consensus could be found among those gathered at the Parliament of the World’s Religions around the role to be played by faith in advancing the equality of women and men. Many would mention the centrality of spiritual values, the necessity of personal transformation, the power of prayer and reliance on the divine. Less established is how to foster the widespread and systematic adoption of such values. How do qualities of trustworthiness, generosity, determination, and nobility find expression not just in individual lives but entire populations? What allows a community to take ownership over its own spiritual, social, and intellectual development, and how does this process spread? 

28. Such questions call for sustained exploration over time. But I can offer a few initial thoughts, drawing from the experience of the worldwide Bahá’í community and my office at the United Nations. The Bahá’í community readily acknowledges that, like all faith communities, it has much to learn about how the ideal of gender equality is translated into social reality. It makes no claim to perfection. At the same time, Bahá’ís work to advance the cause of gender equality in all their endeavors, seeing it as both a sign and prerequisite of social progress. In this regard, its efforts, stretching back more than a century and encompassing virtually every country of the world, comprise a body of experience that is potentially illustrative. And it is in this spirit that I share the following. 

The experience of the Bahá’í community

29. The patterns of community life that a religious community seeks to build is one area in which commitment to the equality of women and men must find expression. Over the past two decades, the Bahá’í community has devoted significant attention to establishing a decentralized system of training and education that seeks to provide children, adolescents, youth, and adults with the spiritual, moral, and intellectual tools necessary to make lasting contributions to society. Committed to the equality of women and men as an article of faith, Bahá’ís strive to enhance the participation of women and girls in these educational programs at all levels and in all capacities - as students and participants, teachers and tutors, coordinators and directors. As a result, a recent survey of some 62,000 individuals across 39 countries found the ratio of women to men in these efforts to be virtually 50/50. 

30. These efforts have contributed to enhancing the role of women and changing attitudes in countless villages and neighborhoods. In the Monduli district of Tanzania, for example, as more and more girls have attended Bahá’í-inspired community schools, it has become increasingly common for parents to allow their daughters to continue their studies and get married at a later age. Ongoing conversations about the negative effects of female genital mutilation have also led to a reduction in the percentage of female students being subjected to this practice.

31. Similar developments have been seen in the Bihar Sharif area of my home country of India. Women in this region have traditionally been under the control of their husbands and families, and not allowed to be active outside the home. The emphasis placed on gender equality in the community-building processes underway, however, has led to thoughtful reassessment of time-worn traditions, and participation of women and girls in community affairs is flourishing. Restrictions on women leaving the home are being left behind and their active participation is becoming the norm. The number of girls receiving education is increasing and the incidence of child marriage is decreasing. The dowry system is also being revised. Previously, the parents of girls often had to sell land or other assets to finance elaborate weddings, which contributed to poverty. Now some participants are opting to waive the dowry and have simple wedding ceremonies that do not burden their parents, thereby contributing to increased economic security.

32. Growing awareness of one’s capacity to make meaningful change in society naturally finds expression in efforts to address social and economic challenges in one’s community. Religiously-inspired social and economic development projects are therefore another area in which a religious community can further the equality of women and men. One example from Bahá’í efforts is the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women. Established in India in 1985, this organization seeks to empower rural and tribal women to become agents of social change in their communities. The Institute offers a free six-month residential training program to several hundred illiterate or semi-literate women each year, in areas including literacy, moral leadership, nutrition and health, environmental conservation, and income generation. Recognizing that attitudinal change on the part of husbands, parents, children, grassroots leaders, local institutions and other members of the community is equally essential to the process of empowering women, the Institute visits the villages of former participants and conducts conferences, meetings, and short-term courses. More than 8,000 women from approximately 800 villages have thus far taken part in the Institute’s programs.

33. Commitment to the equality of women and men must also find expression within a religious community’s own administrative processes and institutional structures. Indispensable in this regard is tracking the participation of women through data and statistics. This is an area to which the Bahá’í community devotes significant attention, and from which I can share a few brief examples. 

34. As some might know, the Bahá’í Faith has no clergy or professional clerical class. Instead, the affairs of the Bahá’í community are overseen by democratically elected governing councils operating at various levels. In every country, for example, local communities are guided by what are known as National Spiritual Assemblies. Women currently represent more than half of those holding the position of Assembly Secretary, a role that has been described as the institution’s “Chief Executive Officer”. 

35. The rate at which women have served in this capacity, as well as other leadership roles including Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and Treasurer, has nearly doubled since the 1980s. Similar growth has been seen in women’s overall membership on National Assemblies, which today is approaching parity, worldwide. These figures have risen as understanding of the implications of gender equality as a spiritual principle has deepened, and local Bahá’í communities have worked to free themselves from inherited biases against the female sex. 

36. Developments such as these hold several lessons we can consider together. One is that they demonstrate the great value of religious communities tracking, objectively and quantitatively, the progress gender equality is making within their own internal activities and systems of governance. Such developments also highlight the evolutionary nature of progress toward the equality of women and men. The aim is not that one or another religious community is suddenly free, as if by magic, of the countless forms of prejudice against women that are still perpetuated by societies around the world today. The goal, rather, is that they are working, consciously and diligently, to uproot those prejudices and replace them with ever more profound manifestations of equality. 

37. Another means by which religious communities can advance gender equality is by participating in the prevalent discourses of society. This is central to the work of the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office, which seeks to contribute to thought and policy at the international level. Such contribution can take a variety of forms. At the conceptual level, the Office was central in establishing concern for the girl child as a distinct thread within the overall discourse on the advancement of women, particularly in the landmark 4th World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995.

38. In the area of transforming institutional structures, the Office’s principal representative co-facilitated the UN’s Gender Equality Architecture Reform campaign. This effort culminated in the creation of UN WOMEN, a centralized body that incorporated functions previously undertaken by four separate UN agencies, thereby greatly strengthening the capacity of the UN to contribute to the advancement of gender equality around the world. 

39. The Bahá’í International Community has also sought to contribute to the gender discourse by convening spaces for actors of different types to engage in constructive dialogue. An example of this is the Faith and Feminism Working Group to the United Nations. This had its origins in a series of public conversations, organized by the Office, which explored the challenges, opportunities, and inequalities that women face at various points in the life cycle. As the series drew both feminists and faith actors - whose viewpoints and agendas do not always coincide - two UN agencies requested the Office to convene and house what became the Faith and Feminism group. This process was not always an easy one. But our intention was to provide a platform from which all could constructively explore issues of common concern. 

A new social order

40. In these examples I hope to have given a glimpse of ways that religious communities might strive to translate the principle of the equality of women and men into reality. I have shared the Bahá’í perspective that the full and unqualified equality of women and men is a divine reality, ordained by God. I have suggested that the vast potential of this equality has laid latent through most of human history, but is becoming accessible today, as humanity gradually leaves behind the ways of childhood and begins to embrace the powers of its dawning maturity. I have proposed that prejudices that have long hampered the collective life of humanity are becoming untenable and must be abandoned in both obvious and subtle forms. And I have asserted that, in the present stage of human history, the complete equality of women and men is a prerequisite for progress in every area of collective life. 

41. Creating a society that embodies gender equality at all levels is an endeavor of social construction on previously unimagined scales. The world has never built such a society, and no individual, group, nation, or leader knows what it would look like. No people can claim to know that path in its entirety. Nor is any region without contributions to make toward its achievement. "Soon will the present day Order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead,” are the words of Baha’u’llah, speaking to the magnitude of change that lies before humanity. 

42. Challenges will be many in constructing that social order. But the tools at our disposal, those spiritual capacities and resources which the founders of the world’s great religious systems bequeathed to humanity, are powerful indeed. The Parliament of the World’s Religions has been exploring these tools for over a century - in general, but also in the creation of new forms of being and doing that conduce to the advancement of women. Dr. Eliza Sunderland, representing the Unitarian Women of America at the World Parliament and Columbian Exposition Women’s Congress in 1893, provides just one example. In her Parliament speech, Dr. Sunderland called for an evolutionary view of religion in understanding more fully the bond of union between the human and the divine. Speaking of her own faith tradition’s capacity to change and grow, she expressed her trust that Christianity might become an ideal “large enough to include all peoples, tender enough to comfort all, lofty enough to inspire all." 

43. Bahá’ís see the construction of truly equitable and unified societies as a labor that will necessarily stretch centuries into the future. But they also see that future as bright beyond compare. I would like to close, then, with a passage from the Bahá’í writings that speaks to the possibilities ahead for women and men alike:

1. “In this Revelation...women will go neck and neck with men. In no movement will they be left behind. Their rights with men are equal in degree. They will enter all the administrative branches of politics. They will attain in all such a degree as will be considered the very highest station of the world of humanity and will take part in all affairs. Rest ye assured. Do ye not look upon the present conditions; in the not far distant future the world of women will become all-refulgent and all-glorious.”  

44. For this, the passage concludes, is the Will of God for humanity today.