HerDignity.net is the online presence of Her Dignity Network, a project of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity’s initiative on global women’s health. This project connects a global network of people and organizations who share two basic ideas: first, that women’s dignity is ultimately about human dignity, and, second, that female bodies and health are essential aspects of both her dignity and our common humanity.
Our Vision
A world where the full dignity of girls and women as equally made in the image of God is reflected in their access to essential healthcare and appropriate biotechnologies and their protection from medical discrimination and exploitation.
What Is Unique about This Project
Within the church, inadequate attention has been paid to the implications of a theological grounding of women’s dignity as rooted in her creation in the image of God. Women’s dignity is human dignity. The intersection of bioethical concerns with female bodies and health are essential aspects of both dignity and our common humanity. While energies in the church are appropriately being directed to issues of abortion and sex trafficking, the broader needs of girls and women are often overlooked or neglected.
A proper understanding of women’s dignity that is fundamentally rooted in her creation in the image of God offers an alternative vision, one that is coherent, holistic, and consistent with how women understand themselves and their relationships. Most women do not understand themselves in isolation as bearers of radical autonomy rights. Girls and women are human beings, to be welcomed in life and protected in law from conception through death.
A full-orbed understanding of women’s dignity also includes caring for her as a spiritual being. Spiritual care and support, which can be expressed in a delightful diversity of ways, are essential to expressing God’s love for her through the actions of other people.
See Our Guiding Principles for a more detailed description of how our beliefs make Her Dignity Network unique.
