Category — women

Did you know that one third of all women is likely to experience some form of violence or abuse in her lifetime? This was the stark figure revealed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today as he launched a multi-year global campaign to try to end violence against women. “It’s an issue that cannot wait,” he said, as he opened the latest session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Said Mr Ban:

At least one out of every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the right even to exist

He continued:

This is a campaign for them. It is a campaign for the women and girls who have the right to live free of violence, today and in the future. It is a campaign to stop the untold cost that violence against women inflicts on all humankind.

He called on youth, women’s groups, men, the private sector and UN member states to put their weight behind the campaign. He acknowledged that there can be no blanket approach to ending violence against women. Every country will have to formulate its own measures.

But there is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable

The Baha’i International Community’s Office for the Advancement of Women will be fully engaged in CSW and in the campaign, with the cooperation of national and local Baha’i communities across the world. You can read the BIC’s statement to the 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women here.

Photo © Sherwin!!! under a Creative Commons licence.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Baha’i International Community, BIC, violence against women, UN, CSW, Ban Ki-moon

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Last Thursday, attending a meeting of the Attorney General’s Equality and Advisory Group (three cheers to Baroness Scotland for continuing her predecessor’s initiative) we sat in a high-ceilinged committee room in the House of Lords. Massive paintings of the coronations of King George V and King George VI adorned the two end walls of the room, while a tall portrait of King William IV in naval uniform looked down on us - women and men, black and white, straight and gay, advising the UK’s first black woman Attorney General (some of the Victorian judiciary must be turning in their graves). Under the minatory gaze of these various monarchs, we discussed the Crown Prosecution Service’s draft policy on prosecuting crimes of violence against women.

Gratifyingly for the CPS, the representatives of the civil society organizations at the meeting were full of praise for this draft policy. It was visionary, they said, and it was well written. Oh yes, there were some suggestions for amendments and for things that had been omitted to be considered for inclusion. But it must be rare for a policy to achieve such unanimity of approval.

Equality of women and men is a fundamental Baha’i principle and the Baha’i International Community’s Office for the Advancement of Women has chosen ending violence against women as one of its focal areas.

Shamefully it is only relatively recently that violence against women, particularly in the home, has been considered a matter for public policy, but now that it is on the agenda, at least the CPS has made a good fist of a draft policy about prosecution of those who commit crimes of violence against women.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Attorney General, Patricia Scotland, equality, women, violence against women

Bani Dugal and Zena Sorabjee

What links a hugging saint, a ground-breaking scientist who took on the multinationals, a French Resistance heroine who took on the Gestapo, a judge who took on Saddam Hussein, a high flier who was educated by an elephant, a spiritual giantess who danced with Fred Astaire, the original Cosmopolitan Girl, a politician who lives with two Oscars, a Bollywood actress worshipped by millions, a Chinese entrepreneur immortalized on a postage stamp and a princess who is able to touch her nose with her toes?

Two Baha’i women were honoured last night at London’s National Portrait Gallery at the launch of a new book by Zerbanoo Gifford, Confessions to a Serial Womaniser - Secrets of the World’s Inspirational Women and an accompanying exhibition of 208 portraits of the women by artist Jeroo Roy. Bani Dugal, who is the Baha’i International Community’s principal UN representative, and Zena Sorabjee, formerly a Counsellor to the Baha’i communities in India and Asia, have both been included in the book and the exhibition for their contributions to human rights and building a better world.

The launch was an absolute scrum. There must have been two or three hundred people crammed into area where the information desks are at the NPG. There was a large board with the portraits on. I have to say I thought that this was a poster of the portraits and that the portraits would be in a gallery in the NPG. A friend and I wandered around looking for the portraits. When we asked one of the gallery attendants she directed us back to the room with the scrum and the large board.

The Duchess of York (aka Fergie) was there, chatting up the inspirational women.

A rather strange event - too many people, too much noise for my comfort. I did manage to chat to some friends from the inter-faith world and also to peace activist Eirwen Harbottle, an old friend.

After the launch, there was a reception across the road in South Africa House. I talked to a few people over there and then left about the same time as Bani, Zena, Shirin Fozdar and one or two others, who were going off for dinner. I dutifully went home to take part in my Local Spiritual Assembly meeting.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, women, Asha Foundation, human rights, peace

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