Women and World Peace

Can the emancipation of women be related to the establishment of international peace? The idea may sound radical to many, but Bahá'ís hold the view, shared by Gandhi, that the emancipation of women is directly related to the ushering in of world peace and to the prosperity of humankind. Speaking about the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh in 1912, `Abdu'l-Bahá said,

He [Bahá'u'lláh] promulgated the adoption of the same course of education for man and woman. Daughters and sons must follow the same curriculum of study, thereby promoting unity of the sexes. When all mankind shall receive the same opportunity of education and the equality of men and women be realized, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed[17]

Gandhi echoed this theme a few decades later when he wrote rhetorically,

If only women would forget that they belong to the weaker sex, I have no doubt that they can do infinitely more than men against war. Answer for yourselves what your great soldiers and generals would do, if their wives and daughters and mothers refused to countenance their participation in militarism in any shape or form.[18]

`Abdu'l-Bahá gave a clear picture of how women can help bring international peace.

the principle of religion has been revealed by Bahá'u'lláh that woman must be given the privilege of equal education with man and full right to his prerogatives. That is to say, there must be no difference in the education of male and female in order that womankind may develop equal capacity and importance with man in the social and economic equation. Then the world will attain unity and harmony. In past ages humanity has been defective and inefficient because it has been incomplete. War and its ravages have blighted the world; the education of woman will be a mighty step toward its abolition and ending, for she will use her whole influence against war. Woman rears the child and educates the youth to maturity. She will refuse to give her sons for sacrifice upon the field of battle. In truth, she will be the greatest factor in establishing universal peace and international arbitration. Assuredly, woman will abolish warfare among mankind[19]

Moreover, in answer to a seeker who asked about the prerequisites for world peace, `Abdu'l-Bahá said,

[A] fact of [great] importance in bringing about international peace is woman's suffrage. That is to say, when perfect equality shall be established between men and women, peace may be realized for the simple reason that womankind in general will never favor warfare. Women will not be willing to allow those whom they have so tenderly cared for to go to the battlefield. When they shall have a vote, they will oppose any cause of warfare. Another factor which will bring about universal peace is the linking together of the Orient and the Occident.[20]

This link between the emancipation of women and world peace is considered sufficiently important by the Bahá'ís that, as late as in 1985, the Universal House of Justice wrote the following in a letter addressed to the peoples of the world, 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 and promotes in men harmful attitudes and habits that are carried from the family to the workplace, to political life, and ultimately to international relations. 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.[21]