We are proud to share that Katarzyna Anna Przybyła, lecturer at Collegium Civitas, took part in an international dialogue held at the United Nations Headquarters last Friday. The event, titled “Responding to Injustice Through Constructive Agency,” was part of the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (March 10–21, 2025) and was hosted by the Bahá’í International Community Geneva and New York United Nations Offices.

In her speech, Katarzyna Anna Przybyła highlighted the power of nonviolent civic movements, referring to the Polish Solidarity Movement, the Singing Revolution in the Baltic States, and Ukraine in 2022 as key historical examples of societies standing up against oppression and injustice through peaceful means. She emphasized the importance of civic agency in driving meaningful social and political change, underlining that peaceful resistance can be a powerful force in challenging oppression, fostering justice, and contributing to the foundations of long-term peace in societies.

Ms. Przybyła also stressed that the path to lasting peace begins with understanding violence, and outlined three key points:

• Education is essential — people must first understand what violence is in order to recognize it and take action.
• Violence, including domestic violence, undermines agency — it affects people’s capacity to resist and even imagine their future. Domestic is political.
• Acknowledging injustice is necessary for true conflict transformation — without space to speak about harm experienced, healing cannot begin.

Quoting Holocaust survivor Marian Turski, she closed her speech with a powerful reminder: “Do not be indifferent.”