For more than 20 years, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States has been part of a collective effort toward U.S. ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

For decades, the Baha'is of the United States have worked to advance the status of women by advocating policies and legislation that promote gender equality, including the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Learn more about CEDAW.

This Friday, May 14, marks the two-year anniversary of the arrest of seven Iranian Baha'i leaders on a series of false charges stemming from their membership with the minority Baha'i Faith. They are still in prison today.

We know that women and girls around the world face violence and discrimination daily. We also know that CEDAW, the Women’s Treaty, helps women and girls to go to school, to own and inherit property, to take part in public life, and to fight violence. We need Senate action on the CEDAW Treaty (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) to give the U.S. greater clout to help women worldwide win these basic rights.

Baha’i representatives will join the Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition on Tuesday, May 11, in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the swift passage of International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA)—America’s first comprehensive legislation to end violence against women and girls around the world.

Like many others, when Jeremy Austin contemplated how he could lend his voice to the international call to free seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders in Iran, he reached for his pencil.

GENEVA – The seven imprisoned Iranian Baha'i leaders were called to court today in Tehran for a third session in their trial. The hearing was again closed and no details are available.

--UPDATE -- Feb. 22, 2010: The third court session for seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran is scheduled for Saturday, April 10, a day earlier than originally announced.