Religion

“I am first a Buddhist, second a feminist”

In an interview, Ven. Dhammananda Bhikkhunī, the first fully ordained Thai Theravada Buddhist nun, speaks about the struggle for female ordination in Thailand and expresses her hopes for progress.

By Srijula Yongstar and Florian Reinold

Religion has an important function in the public and political life of many societies that also affects the relations between the sexes and women’s (and men’s) rights. Still, how do religion and politics mingle precisely and what are the concrete social and political consequences of this mixture from a gender perspective?

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Religion, Politics and Gender Equality

Religion has an important function in the public and political life of many societies, and from the point of view of women’s rights to equality, there is much at stake in how religion and politics intertwine. For that purpose the Heinrich Boell Foundation conducts an extensive research project in collaboration with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) which includes case studies from 11 countries.