Celia Taghdiri says she’s been fascinated by Tahirih since childhood.

The U.S. Baha’i community is adding its support to UNIFEM’s “Say no to violence against women” campaign by helping to collect 100,000 signatures.

Helen Elsie Austin, a Baha'i who devoted her life to justice and truth, was a woman of many “firsts.” She was one of the first African-American women lawyers in the United States, the first African-American woman to receive a law degree from the University of Cincinnati and the first African-American woman to serve as an assistant to a state attorney general.

Violence against women and girls represents a global problem with great health, economic development, and human rights implications. At least one out of every three women and girls worldwide experience violence or abuse in her lifetime, according to the World Health Organization. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, a public health epidemic, and a barrier to solving global challenges, such as extreme poverty and armed conflict.

Related Items | Latest News

Photo by Eric VanZanten

The Baha'i-inspired Tahirih Justice Center, known for its human rights work, has received recognition of another kind: The 10-year-old organization recently was given the 2007 Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.

The Baha'i International Community has released a statement that highlights what it says are often neglected solutions to eradicating violence against women.

Patricia Locke, who died in 2001 at age 73, was a ground-breaking worker for the education of American Indians and one of 10 women inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.

Locke was a Baha'i, and the first American Indian woman to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly, the administrative governing body for Baha'is of the United States. She was of Lakota and Chippewa heritage and played a leading role in the founding of 17 tribally run colleges in the United States. She also was an influential advocate for the passage of federal laws increasing Indian tribes' autonomy over their children's education.

A statement by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States - published in 2002

A statement by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States - published in 1997