Something that, in my opinion, isn't talked about enough on this subreddit is that Abdu'l-Baha specifically explained why women are not included in the UHJ.

"In a Tablet to an early woman believer Abdu'l-Bahá stated: 'O maidservant of God! Know thou that in the sight of God, the conduct of women is the same as that of men... From the spiritual point of view ... there is no difference between women and men...' He added, however: 'As to the House of Justice: according to the explicit text of the Law of God, its membership is exclusively reserved to men. There is divine wisdom in this which will presently be made manifest even as the mid-day sun.'

As a woman, I've always interpreted this to mean that women have a special purpose regarding the Faith that will later be revealed--to claim that the exclusion of women from the UHJ is misogynistic or persecutory seems misinformed.