Women

Iran’s Government Systematically Violates Rights of Students

By: Elahe Amani

The systemic violation of students’ rights and freedoms has persisted for forty-five years under the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the current period under President Masoud Pezeshkian.  The denial of the right to education among other marginalized groups such as Afghan refugees, and Baháʼí  community  is another chapter which has been consistently highlighted in UN reports.  ...

Women and Sports in Iran - Mahdieh Golroo

In prison, I tried to think about good things like interesting memories and sweet experiences, and to reassure myself that these days are passing and I can make good memories again; I will eat the food I like or go where I like, I will live with the people I love, etc. ...

Iranian women are staging an offensive against sexual abuse. It’s long overdue.

The accused range from Revolutionary Guard commanders to renowned artists and ordinary citizens —implying a deep and systemic crisis of moral legitimacy at the heart of the regime not unlike the one recently faced by the Catholic Church: The theocracy that has touted itself as the guardian of good conduct and high virtue proves to have done no better, and possibly worse, than the Western societies it has so scathingly criticized. ...

How outrage over killing of Iranian girl is helping women’s rights

Farmer Reza Ashrafi may have considered the death of his 14-year-old daughter Romina in the name of family honor inevitable. But its ability to spark an uproar that is challenging Iranian traditions of patriarchy and improving women’s and children’s rights had to appear unlikely. After all, hundreds of Iranian women die each year in so-called honor killings. ...

GENDER POLITICS IN IRAN AND THE LAST FORTY YEARS: ELEVEN STORIES

2019 marked the fortieth anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Yet the turbulent events of late 2019 and early 2020 are stark reminders that Iranians continue to resist for their liberation. These events once again confirmed that the history, legacy, and freedom dreams of the 1979 Revolution are still bitterly contested, forty years later. Since the very beginning of that uprising, the status of gender politics and its relationship to the revolutionary project has been a site of debate and contestation both among revolutionary actors and outside commentators. Unlike previous journal special issues marking anniversary moments of the Iranian Revolution, this collection of essays, art, and creative writing emerged over the course of conversations in 2019 that centered projects of gender justice, women’s leadership in popular struggles, and other forms of feminist political work which are a major force of societal transformation in Iran. ...

Maryam Shojaei, trailblazer for women in Iran to watch men's soccer, earns Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award

Maryam Shojaei, who mounted a campaign -- first anonymously and later publicly -- that led to Iran allowing women to attend men's soccer matches, is being honored with the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award, ESPN announced Tuesday. ...

Mother of Jailed Anti-Compulsory Hijab Activist Calls for Legal Reform

Laws in Iran that allow the authorities to imprison people after they’ve been acquitted should be immediately revised, said the mother of jailed activist Saba Kord-Afshari, 21, who is again facing a minimum 15-year prison sentence for advocating against the country’s mandatory hijab law after the Appeals Court acquitted her. ...

Women’s Boxing Banned In Iran's Khuzestan Province

Khuzestan has become Iran’s first province to officially ban women's boxing. ...

Honor Killing in Iran and a statement by AI

A father in Iran has been arrested for allegedly beheading his 14-year-old daughter in a so-called ‘honor killing,’ after discovering she ran away from home with her boyfriend. ...

COVID-19: After fighting for Iran's most vulnerable, these imprisoned women have become the most vulnerable of all

From the depths of Iran’s prisons — perhaps the last place one would expect — two courageous women have demonstrated unparalleled and inspiring leadership during this global crisis. Narges Mohammadi and Nasrin Sotoudeh spent their lives fighting for Iran’s most vulnerable, until becoming the country’s most vulnerable themselves. ...