Human Rights
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 aggressivity, 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. But whatever its political or religious system, a society patterned on dominance inevitably gives rise to such distortions of power as violence against women.
- Bahá’í International Community, Ending Violence Against Women, Statement to 51st session of UN Commission on Human Rights, March 1995
Quote of the Day
Kamal 18 Mulk 182 B.E.
. . . if we spontaneously desire to acknowledge we have been wrong in something and that we have some fault of character, and ask another person's forgiveness or pardon, we are quite free to do so. The Guardian wants to point out, however, that we are not obliged to do so. It rests entirely with the individual.
From a letter written by the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly – 19 March, 1973