Over the past three months, there has been a massive outpouring of support
around the world for the people of Iran, and especially Iranian women, amid the
ongoing nationwide protests sparked by the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini
in police custody in mid-September. From Los Angeles to London and Auckland to
Seoul, Iranians and non-Iranians alike have taken to the streets and social
media to show their solidarity, echoing the protests’ slogan of “women, life,
freedom”. International women’s organizations have played a central role in
this effort, backing the protests, condemning the harsh government crackdown
and Iran’s discriminatory laws, and pushing for the expansion of rights for
women and all Iranians. Here are four things women and women’s organizations
around the world have been doing to help.
اضافة اعلان
— Expressing support at the highest levels: On October 26, women foreign
ministers from Canada, Albania, Andorra, Australia, France, Germany, Iceland,
Kosovo, Libya, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, and Norway put out a strong
statement of support for the protesters: “We, as women foreign ministers, are
gathered in solidarity with the courageous Iranian women engaging in their
right of peaceful assembly and advocating for their human rights. We recognize
that Iranian women are also fighting for a better future for all Iranians and
we have the moral obligation to support them.”
The ministers called for a “prompt, impartial, and
independent investigation into the use of force” by the Iranian authorities and
the repression of demonstrations, including severe internet and telecom
restrictions and excessive use of force.
Their statement went on: “As women foreign
ministers, we feel a responsibility to echo the voices of Iranian women. We
condemn the violent enforcement of the chastity law and the ongoing crackdown
against protestors in Iran who exercise their right to freedom of opinion and
expression.”
— Pushing for
legal change: On September 30, international women’s faith groups released a
statement signed by more than 80 organizations, activists, academics, and
lawyers, Muslims and of other faiths, calling on the Iranian government to
repeal Article 638 of the penal code (covering dress and punishment), review
and change all laws that discriminate against women, and ratify the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Highlighting
existing laws that discriminate against women, the statement cited those “that
allow girls to get married before 18, that prescribe male guardianship over
women, and discount the testimony of women”, among others. The groups also
noted that “recent polls show that 72 percent of Iranians do not believe the hijab
should be enforced by the government, rather it is a matter of choice for
Muslim women”.
The signatory women’s organizations are from
countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including the
Alliance of Inclusive Muslims, Arab Association for Human Rights, Association
Tunisienne des Femmes Démocratiques (ATFD), Center for Egyptian Women, Iraqi
Women Network, Noor Afghanistan Legal & Social Organization, Syrian Women
League, and many others.
— Advocating for the creation of a UN fact-finding
mission: In mid-October, as the Iranian government ramped up its brutal
crackdown on the protests, women’s rights organizations like Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom and FEMENA, along with international
human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and
others, began advocating for the UN Human Rights Council to hold a special
session on the protests and establish an independent mechanism to investigate
potential crimes under international law.
That session took place on November 24 and resulted
in the passage by the UN Human Rights Council of a resolution to set up a
fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations related to the
protests, especially regarding women and children.
The mission will gather, analyze, and preserve
evidence of violations, including with an eye to future legal proceedings.
Several grassroots Iranian women’s organizations have already begun collecting
and documenting violence against women and girls, who have been killed on the
streets, beaten, raped, and tortured in prison.
Nearly three months on, international support for Iranian women and the protest movement more broadly remains strong, with a diverse array of women’s organizations issuing statements of solidarity and support.
“By establishing an investigative accountability
mechanism, the council has sent a clear and unequivocal message to the Iranian
authorities that they cannot continue with their brutal assault on human life
with impunity,” said Quinn McKew, executive director of ARTICLE 19.
Agnès Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty
International, said: “This important and long-overdue step shows that the cries
of people in Iran for justice have finally been heard. … today’s vote must also
serve as a wake-up call for the Iranian authorities to immediately end their
all-out militarized attack on demonstrators.”
— Petitioning
for Iran’s expulsion from the UN Commission on the Status of Women: On October
30, the American NGO Vital Voices International began a campaign calling on UN
member states to immediately remove the Islamic Republic of Iran from the UN
Commission on the Status of Women, a global intergovernmental body dedicated to
promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, over its brutal crackdown on
the protests. In a statement put out by Vital Voices, the group’s president and
CEO, Alyse Nelson, said: “This is an unprecedented woman-led revolution that
needs the full support of human rights leaders and organizations, aligned with
the member states of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the broader
public to in order to be effective.”
The US government has backed the effort to remove
Iran from the UN commission, with Vice President Kamala Harris releasing a
statement on November 2 saying that “the US continues to stand with the brave
women of Iran as they protest peacefully for their fundamental rights and basic
human dignity”, adding that, “Iran has demonstrated through its denial of
women’s rights and brutal crackdown on its own people that it is unfit to serve
on this commission”. A vote on the issue in the UN is expected on December 14.
Nearly three months on, international support for
Iranian women and the protest movement more broadly remains strong, with a
diverse array of women’s organizations issuing statements of solidarity and
support. This global support not only encourages Iranian women to continue in
their fight for freedom, but also it is undermining the international political
and moral legitimacy of the Islamic Republic and making its government even
more isolated among the nations of the international community.
If there is to be any chance for real progress,
however, women and men inside Iran and their supporters around the world will
need to keep pushing for change.
Fariba Parsa specializes in the political ideologies of democracy and civil movements
in Iran. She is a non-resident scholar with MEI’s Iran Program, works at
Yorktown System Groups as a Farsi instructor, and is the founder and president
of the nonprofit Women’s E-Learning in Leadership (WELL). This article first
appeared in the December 8 edition of the Middle East Institute (MEI).
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