By Sara Farhang

Iran is home to one of the most vibrant women’s movements in the region. (Photo credit: faramarz/flickr/creative commons)

TEHRAN, Jun 25, 2009 (IPS) – When tens of thousands of protesters braved the ongoing government crackdown to gather in Tehran’s Baharestan Square in front of the Parliament building Wednesday in response to a call by supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, they were met with some of the harshest violence seen since Iran’s post-election turmoil erupted nearly two weeks ago.

“All of a sudden some 500 people with clubs… came out of [a nearby mosque], and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone,” an unidentified woman told CNN, describing the scene as a “massacre”.

“They beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood, and her husband who was watching the scene, he just fainted,” the witness said.

Indeed, despite the heavy use of force to disperse crowds and recent violence that has left hundreds injured and dead, women were present in high numbers at the square, as they have been throughout the crisis.

“I am so proud of Iranian women who show up for these protests,” a female protester told IPS, confirming that women at the scene were targeted by security forces and were beaten violently with batons.

In fact, the presence of women at these protests has garnered much attention by surprised international observers. A recent video released on the internet captured the death of 27-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot down by a Basij sniper as she exited a car on her way to a protest.

The murder of this young woman has incited anger and sympathy in Iran and internationally. Other women have reportedly been killed and injured in recent clashes with security officials and many have been arrested.

“I believe that women show up for these protests because they feel cheated and they want answers. They participated in the elections and were faced with fraud. They want their voices to be heard,” says one 25-year-old woman who has attended most of the protests in the past two weeks.

“Their presence at these protests is a testament to the increased awareness of Iranian women,” she adds.

In fact, at more than 60 percent, Iranian female university students outnumber their male counterparts. Iranian women are present in all aspects of social and professional life, as entrepreneurs, engineers, medical doctors, university professors and lawyers. Iran is home to one of the most vibrant women’s movements in the region, dating back at least a century.

In recent years, women’s rights activists have been working toward equal status under Iranian law, which is based on conservative interpretations of Sharia law, and as such accords a second-class status to women.

Nearly three years ago, Iranian women’s rights activists launched the One Million Signatures Campaign to demand changes in discriminatory laws in the civil and penal codes.

The campaign seeks equality for women in marriage, right to divorce, custody of children, an increase in the age of criminal responsibility, and an end to polygamy among other changes. It seeks to collect one million signatures in support of a petition addressed to the Iranian parliament.

Activists use a face-to-face approach to educate and raise awareness among Iranian citizens. According to the site of the campaign, however, over 50 of its staff members have been arrested, or charged with national security crimes.

Still, their demands were echoed in the presidential campaigns, when three of the contesting candidates addressed the need to change discriminatory laws against women as part of their platforms.

The first to address this issue was Mehdi Karroubi, who promised to submit bills to parliament intent on reforming laws which discriminate against women. He also committed to appointing women as ministers.

Many women’s rights activists along with human rights and student rights activists voted for Karroubi because of the progressive stance he took on human and civil rights.

Following Karroubi’s announcement, Moussavi issued a comprehensive programme on women as part of his election platform, in which he also committed to reforming discriminatory laws against women.

Mohsen Rezaie, the conservative presidential candidate, also took a position on women and committed to working for women’s equality in society, which is a bold commitment coming from a conservative candidate.

While President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made no campaign promises or even references to women’s rights, his advisor on women’s issues, Zohreh Tabibzadeh, who heads the Centre for Women and Families, appeared for two press conferences, a rare event indeed for a woman who has kept the press at arm’s length for the duration of her tenure as the head of the agency responsible for devising programmes addressing the needs of women.

Tabibzadeh used both opportunities to attack women’s rights activists in general and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, who supports women’s equality, in particular. At her second press conference, Tabibzadeh responded angrily to a question posed by a reformist reporter from Etemad daily by saying “those who want to change the laws on women should vote for a reformist candidate.”

In fact, Tabibzadeh’s stance is reflective of policies adopted during the presidency of Ahmadinejad which have worked to relegate women to their homes and promote their roles as wives and mothers.

Ahmadinejad’s presidency ushered in a period of severe restrictions on women, including the re-establishment of morality police, who arrest women on the street for their lack of adherence to Islamic dress; the adoption of quotas limiting the entrance of female students to university and policies forcing women to attend universities in their hometowns; and a highly contested bill dubbed the “Family Support Act” which eased restrictions on polygamy.

Women’s rights activists opposed this bill. Their march on the Parliament was successful in pushing MPs to reconsider and overturn provisions easing restrictions on polygamy.

According to one women’s rights activist, “women were highly active and present in the campaigns of the two reformist candidates as well as in campaign events and rallies. This signifies that women are willing to work toward the election of candidates who take their demands for equality and freedom seriously.”

Their presence at the protests following the elections, according to this activist, “is a further sign that women know what is at risk – the right to self-determination – and women are willing to pay the price for a better future for themselves and their children.”

While many young women turn out for protests, the presence of older women at these events is also easily observable. One woman in her fifties explained that the main reason she attends protests is to “lend support to the younger generation and to try to prevent any violence targeted at them.”

She went on to describe how she was beaten at one protest when she physically intervened and tried to stop the assault of a young man by security agents.

Along these lines, a group of women calling themselves “The Mourning Mothers” issued a call for peaceful protests at Laleh Park at 7:00 on Saturdays, near the area where Neda was killed on Saturday, Jun. 20.

The statement reads: “Based on what sin have you murdered our children? Why have you forced all mothers into mourning?”

The mothers have demanded an end to violence, the prosecution of those who have committed violence, and the release of over 800 persons arrested over the past two weeks.

It seems that with this new call to action, women will continue to have an active presence in the protests, which have taken on new dimensions objecting not only to election fraud but to violent suppression of peaceful dissent.

Run Date: 04/24/08

By Soheila Vahdati

Iranian activists are bravely pushing for women’s rights. But Soheila Vahdati warns that an outbreak of an Iran-Israeli war that involves the Bush White House would fan the flames of fundamentalism and destroy the cause.Editor’s Note: The following is a commentary. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Women’s eNews.

(WOMENSENEWS)–In case you missed it, here’s how a Reuters story started out on the day Pennsylvania Democrats were nominating deciding who they want as a presidential candidate.

“Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned Tehran on Tuesday that if she were president, the United States could ‘totally obliterate’ Iran in retaliation for a nuclear strike against Israel.”

While many American women may be measuring the next U.S. president for his or her policies on health care, gender pay equity and a struggling economy, women in Iran are looking for foreign policy approaches. More immediately, we’re also wary of what the remaining days of President Bush’s time in office might bring.

The possibility of U.S. military action against Iran has been rising this month along with the saber rattling between Israel and Iran.

Some analysts have speculated that Israel might attack Iran to stop its nuclear activities, which the West fears are a front for weapons development. Iran has responded by saying it will obliterate Israel if it comes under attack.

Amid this, female activists in Iran hope that war can be avoided, fearing the Iranian women’s movement would be among the first casualties.

This would be a major loss because the women’s movement is making progressive gains.

Last year, for instance, the fundamentalist daily newspaper Kayhan called upon lawmakers to disarm the movement by reforming the Islamic law in favor of women’s rights.

In this fashion, the women’s movement is chipping away at fundamentalism. And it is best that we continue doing it that way, within the context of peace. If bombs start falling we won’t have that chance. Nationalism and fundamentalism will rise to meet the external aggression and dissidents of every variety will be stifled.

Troubling Rhetoric

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israeli rhetoric along with the country’s nuclear program are of obvious concern to Israel, especially in the past few weeks as the war rhetoric has risen. Although Iranian officials have repeatedly claimed the nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, the United States and Israel are not yet convinced.

Following an April 16 meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Bush said it is “naive” to think Iran would not be able to transfer nuclear enrichment into a weapons program.

That same day, prominent Israeli newspaper Haaretz opened its editorial by reiterating: “Iran under the Islamic revolutionary government represents a serious security problem for Israel.” And to underscore the extent to which the U.S. military stands behind Israel in this matter it concluded: “Bush may not be the world’s police officer, but in the absence of any other cop on the horizon, he can be expected to make good on his promise to prevent Iran from acquiring the ability to destroy Israel.”

Meanwhile, at a joint congressional hearing, congressional members bluntly expressed their frustration at the lack of an effective U.S. policy toward Iran. “Having a policy of hope is horse dung,” is how Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, expressed it.

Diverting the Fifth Column

In the face of U.S.-Israel opposition the Iranian government is reacting by not only strengthening its military forces but also eliminating any potential “fifth column” recruits, including anybody who dares voice their criticism of the state.

The government strictly controls the media and has closed down magazines that it deems are unsupportive of the government or hold the slightest critical views and commentaries. Zanan, a monthly magazine and the only women’s independent publication in the country, became the latest victim of the government crackdown on media in January.

The state’s strict policies never allow the public to openly voice their opinions about negotiating peace with Israel. A few years ago, I had an interview with an Israeli peace activist, Ada Aharoni, about the joint efforts of some Israeli and Palestinian women for building peace. After the piece was published online, I received e-mails from women in Iran who wished they could join efforts to make Israel and Palestinians negotiate a peaceful solution, but no one was willing to be interviewed.

Yet, female activists have been among the most vocal critics of the Islamic regime, demanding an end to the systemic gender discrimination by the state-imposed Islamic laws. Consequently, they are the first to be oppressed.

Activist Attacked Every 4 Days

Scores of female activists face charges of acting “against national security” and for the first time they face sentences of flogging in addition to prison terms, though the sentences are mostly suspended. Women’s groups are tracking these cases online. During the past three months, on average, one female activist has been summoned, tried, sentenced or threatened every four days.

According to one prominent women’s rights activist, who does not want her name to be revealed, the fundamentalists have all activists and vocal dissidents, at most a few hundred, under surveillance.

“We know that we can work when there is peace,” she says. “But if there is any serious military threat, the regime will round us up and execute us immediately in order to make sure nobody thinks of a replacement for the current regime.”

Iran has made it clear that any military action against the country would lead to a full-scale war. As in any war, nationalism and patriotism will come to support the state, which in this case is in the hands of the fundamentalists. Furthermore, Iran plans to actively recruit its fundamentalist supporters from all over the world to target U.S. interests.

Such a scenario is the worst nightmare of Iranian women’s rights activists. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, women have successfully brought severe theoretical and practical challenges to the Islamic fundamentalism. Women have defied barriers set by the Islamic regime and found their way into nearly all aspects of social life. The headscarf has been no barrier for women to enjoy education and employment and now they are showing their presence in the fields of music and sports.

Women are continuously pushing for reforms to the state-imposed Islamic laws. The child custody law, for example, has been reformed to increase the mother’s share of child custody. The inheritance law was reformed to lessen discrimination against women. Last year, when the lawmakers were drafting the Islamic polygamy bill, women brought sharp criticism to it. Before it could reach the parliament the Supreme Leader–Iran’s highest-ranking religious and political authority–announced his opposition to the bill in a meeting with the 12 female members of the 281-seat parliament.

The Stop Stoning Forever campaign–initiated by women in August 2006 after activists learned of a case where a man and a woman had been stoned and another woman was sentenced–caused some of the prominent grand ayatollahs to distance themselves from the practice of stoning, a legal form of punishment for adultery prescribed under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code. When the campaign drew public attention to stoning, some prominent religious figures, including Ayatollah Montazeri and Ayatollah Mousavi Bojnordi, issued decrees allowing the state to bend the Islamic law and put an end to stoning.

Dr. Soheila Vahdati is an Iranian American human rights activist who has written many articles about women’s human rights and gender issues in Iranian journals. She is a coordinator of the Stop Stoning Forever campaign and is based in California.

Women’s eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org.

“Political Observations” (1795-04-20); also in Letters and Other Writings of James Madison (1865), Vol. IV, p. 491

Sandra R Mackie
Gettysburg, PA
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