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Women's Rights Protests in Iran
Dear Comrades, [brothers and sisters],
Please find below an issue that needs your
_expression of solidarity. Thank you very much.
Halima Ibrahim.
Message:
We are in solidarity with you. Here in
Nigeria,
the religions and traditions are so intertwined that traditional
institutions that offer no positive impact defend them seriously.
Things are so bad that in today's newspapers, it is reported that out
of a population of 120 million people, Nigeria is losing 52 thousand
women annually to maternal mortality. The richer the country, the
poorer the people, and women are hardest hit. But we are making some
minor inroads through advocacy and lobbying. We are in solidarity with all Iranian women in this
struggle, because it reminds us of our own situation too.
In the name of the Almighty, we shall triumph.
Halima Ibrahim,
Nigeria.
Braving Threats, Women Demand Legal Reforms
Omid Memarian*
BERKELEY,
California,
Jun 11 (IPS) - On Monday, Iranian women
activists will again demonstrate in Tehran to demand changes in the
oppressive laws that are written into the country's constitution.
They are being supported by five Nobel Peace Prize winners: Shirin
Ebadi of
Iran,
Jody Williams from the
United States,
Betty Williams
from
Ireland,
Wangari Maathai of Kenya, and Rigoberta Menchu of
Guatemala.
"We, the undersigned, would like to express our support for Iranian
women in their continued struggle to gain equal rights under the
civil and penal codes of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Specifically,
we support Iranian women in their peaceful protest scheduled for
June
12, 2006," said the letter from the "Nobel Women's Initiative".
Challenging these laws takes great courage since a critique of the
constitution is perceived by the clerical establishment as a
criticism of Islam and its ayatollahs.
The demonstrators, which include both women and men, are demanding an
end to all forms of legal discrimination based on gender, as well
changes to Islamic laws that protect men at the expense of women, in
areas like polygamy, divorce, child custody, employment rights,
travel restrictions, the definition of adulthood, and the value of
women in legal cases brought before the courts.
Under current law, women are assigned half the value of a man. For
example, four women must appear in court to fulfill the requirement
of two witnesses.
In addition, men are permitted to have more than one wife, women
cannot file for divorce, and when a divorce is granted, the husband
usually gets full custody of the children. Outside the home, wives
are still under the thumb of their husbands -- they cannot work if
their husband opposes the place of employment and they cannot travel
outside the country without written permission from their husbands.
Even a woman's age is defined in terms
favourable
to men: girls are
considered adults at age nine, at which time they can be married off.
Activists would like to raise the legal age of adulthood to 18 years.
Two thousand Iranian women and men have courageously signed their
names to a statement calling for dramatic changes in Islamic law.
More than 15 international
organisations,
100 Iranian blogs, and
feminists from around the world have joined in support.
The statement, which cannot be published in any of Iran's newspapers,
does appear in blogs and will be read out loud at the demonstration.
"For the past 100 years, since the constitutional period, Iranian
women have worked toward achieving their human rights and equal
status under the legal system. Despite these efforts, women's most
basic rights have been ignored within Iranian civil and penal codes.
Needless to say lack of legal guarantees and equality under the law
has imposed severe obstacles and consequences on the lives of Iranian
women," it says.
Last year's peaceful protest turned violent when police resorted to
the use of force to break up the demonstration. Officials warned that
a formal license was required. The demonstrators, mostly women,
referred to Article 27 of the constitution which states that peaceful
protest is legal and does not require a license. The 2005 protest was
the largest since 1980, when tens of thousands demonstrated against
compulsory use of the hejab, chador, scarf and mantua.
"Women's
organisations
have not asked for permission for this
peaceful event, which is not political at all. Out right to protest
peacefully has been
recognised
by the constitution," one of the
organisers
of Monday's rally told IPS.
Feminists who
organised the event will form a follow-up
committee, in
hopes that the larger civil society will continue to bring pressure
on the government. So far, none of
Iran's 12
conservative women MPs
have acknowledged the Jun. 12 protest. No group has taken
responsibility for this event, because of security fears. Last year,
the
organisers of a similar event were threatened by
unknown security
forces.
"One of the security entities has summoned some of the women
activists. They have not pointed out any reason," an Iranian woman
activist told IPS on condition of anonymity. "They probably asked
them to cancel the protest," she added.
Prior to last year's protest, the Ministry of Interior summoned
several women leaders and asked them to cancel the event. Police
surrounded the crowd who gathered in front of
Tehran
University and
forced them to leave.
Six years ago, a peaceful protest by students in Tehran was stopped
by police and plainclothes forces. Many students were injured, one
was killed and a student dormitory was destroyed. This violent
episode received wide international news coverage. Since then, police
forces and intelligence services, which are controlled by the
conservatives, are opposed to any kind of protest.
The police believe that peaceful protest inevitably leads to
political protest. In Iran, where secular politics are intertwined
with Islamic law, such a protest is seen as direct criticism of the
Islamic government, and a threat to the image of unity that it has
worked so hard to achieve.
Since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to office last year, he has
used the Islamic regime's social base to promote his agenda and has
acted against
labour, student and women rights movements. Of all the
pressing issues in
Iran,
women's issues are among the most critical.
Any change to the constitution that would improve women's rights
requires not only a change in Islamic law but a confirmation by high-ranking ayatollahs.
However, just last month, leading clerics objected to women's request
to watch football games. Since the Islamic revolution, women have
been barred from attending stadium sports events because they are
forbidden to watch semi-naked men, as that might arouse inappropriate
sexual feelings.
On Mar. 8, the Iranian authorities marked International Women's Day
by attacking hundreds of people who had peacefully assembled to
honour
women's rights. Iranian police and plainclothes agents charged
the gathering in
Tehran,
beating hundreds of women and men.
But even as reformists, secular intellectuals and writers are
suppressed by the conservative government, women activists are
playing an increasingly significant role. In calling for a change to
those laws that adversely affect the day-to-day lives of women, a
multilateral coalition of Iranian women and civil society
organisations
are quietly demanding no less than a fundamental change
to Islamic law.
*Omid Memarian is an Iranian journalist and civil society activist.
He has won several awards, including Human Rights Watch's highest
honour
in 2005, the Human Rights Defender Award. Omid is currently a
visiting scholar at the Graduate School of Journalism at the
University of
California, Berkeley. (END/2006)
>>> "Heba F. El-Shazli" <helshazl@solidaritycenter.org>
13/06/2006
03:23 >>> also wrote:
You can find some of the pictures in the following link:
http://www.kosoof.com/archive/2006/Jun/12/425.php
There were 5,000 persons at this rally. If you
would like more information, just let us know. It is very
disturbing. In addition to this, some of the Vahed's Syndicate
members attended the gathering/demonstration and Zahra Haiatgheib (Mansour
Haiatgheibi's wife, Vahed's Syndicate's EB) was arrested.
Sadly, Heba
Heba F. El-Shazli
Regional Program Director, The Middle East and North Africa
The Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO
1925 K St. NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 778-6372 - Direct
(202) 778-4500 - Main
(202) 778-6395 - Fax
E-mail:
helshazl@solidaritycenter.org
Website:
www.solidaritycenter.org
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