14 July 2008

Women's Activist in Iran

I was looking in the news and found an article about women's activists in Iran called "No Dignity, no Justice". This past Saturday, June 12 was the anniversary of the National Day of Solidarity of Iranian Women. On June 12, 2005 "thousands of Iranian women gathered in front of the Tehran University and demanded changes to the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Many women's activists groups protested to change discriminatory laws against women and girls. The Iranian woman's activists rights chose this day as the National Day of Solidarity. It stated in the article that "many consider this day to be the day the women’s movement declared her independent existence and identity as a social movement." But what I found most interesting was that since June, 2006 Iranian women are being arrested, harassed, and put in prison for their actions towards the women's movement. The government is breaking up private meetings at houses, blocking blogs on women's activist sights and much more. It's really sad to see how hard these women are trying to make a change in their lives and the lives of their future generation, and they are constantly shut down by men and their government. I found this article really moving and interesting. I hope you all enjoy it!


http://womennewsnetwork.net/2008/06/24/iran-arrests-globalreport801/
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3 comments:

Beth Avera said...

My first reaction to reading this article was that wow, after three years people women are still being arrested for simply honoring the day June 12th! But then I put this situation into historical perspective. Comparing the Iranian women to women in the United States; we first became a nation in 1775 but women did not receive equal rights (suffrage) until 1920 with the nineteenth amendment. Also, about this time women were finally being able to enter the workforce and compete with men, thanks to “the Pill.” It took almost 150 years for women to achieve prominence in society!
Looking into this issue, according to my geography book (Regions 13th Edition by DeBlij and Muller) in 1979 a revolution began in Iran centering on Shi’ite Muslims. In the original article, the article briefly debates the role of Islamic social norms in the women’s behavior and the men’s response. In my opinion it seems that the control exerted by Islamic fundamentalist is the core of the women’s oppression. Also one article I read acknowledged the oppression of other activists, http://www.iran-women-solidarity.net/spip.php?article345, which also would upset the control of the fundamentalists.
Finally, I thought it was ironic in a sense that the article says, “Iran claims that these activists are a threat to the country’s national security!” First of all because the women are so controlled, that they cannot even meet together to celebrate solidarity without being arrested- how can they ever be a threat to national security if they can’t meet? Second, this statement unintentionally admits to women’s intelligence and capability by being scared of what might happen if they are able to meet together.
I loved how the article I read describes the women at the end as "bold, brave, confident, hopeful," and most importantly, "desire dignity."

15 July, 2008 17:42
krutika said...

brandy and beth,
thank you so much for the article(s). These are eye-opening. And the statement about national security is totally not necessary. It shows that the Iranian government completely missed the point- women's equality. These women are not organizing cults or revolutions to overthrow the government, but are simply getting together to offer each other support and try to make life better for themselves. They are doing so quite peacefully, I think, and not picking up guns...the Iranian government should really think about that. These articles tie into Zhang's life in the book we are reading. She gets into a lot of trouble and is seen as being influenced by a foreign demon when all she wants to do is lead a more independent life.

15 July, 2008 20:48
Lydia said...

Beth, I had the same reaction. There continues to be arrest of these women who are members of the "One Million Signatures Campaign." The Women's Learning Partnership website has been following the "Continued Harassment of Campaign Activists." The latest arrest was on July 9th, "Zeinab Bayzeydi, a member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan and of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was arrested on July 9, in Mahabad, Kurdistan. Ms. Bayzeydi was summoned and interrogated for several hours on July 5 and again for three hours on July 9, prior to her arrest and transfer to a detention center in Mahabad." http://www.learningpartnership.org/fr/advocacy/alerts/iranwomenarrests0307

The threat is the unity or empowerment these women are bringing to their community and their country.

16 July, 2008 14:44

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