Jewels of Allah: The Untold Story of Women in Iran

by Nina Ansary

  Chapter Seven

  CAN WOMEN IN IRAN BE EQUAL?

  The previous disconnect between Iranian women has transformed into a collective movement which will not be silenced.1

  Delaram Ali, twenty-four-year-old sociology student arrested and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for her participation in the Haft-e Tir Square protests in 2006

  The only way the women’s movement, as a new social movement in Iran, can move their rights forward is through a change in the laws … Women citizens have the right to object to discriminatory legislation. Officials should be responsive and listen to these demands, so that this deadlock is resolved and can help provide a peaceful, civilized life for all citizens, particularly for women.2

  Mansoureh Shojaee, leading Iranian women’s rights activist and founding member of the 2006 One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality

  Everything that is banned by the government is being practiced but behind closed doors.3

  Kiana Hayeri, documentary photographer whose 2012 project “Your Veil Is a Battleground” captures the dual lives of a new generation of young women in Iran

  I am sorry that the chador [veil] was forced on women. [Today] people have just lost their respect for it. We only have ourselves to blame. People are not happy and the chador has become its symbol.4

  Zahra Eshraghi, granddaughter of the late Ayatollah Khomeini

  For over thirty years, thousands of courageous Iranian women have raised their voices in protest and solidarity, steadfast in their resolve and determination to win their rights. The heroic and resilient participants in Iran’s growing women’s movement have relentlessly demonstrated that they will not be deterred in their pursuit of gender equality

  In post-revolutionary Iran, the obstacles have been daunting, as the theocracy presently led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1989–present) continues to erect barriers to women’s emancipation. The most recent presidential administrations have brought both increased repression (under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 2005–2013) and renewed hope (under current president Hassan Rouhani, 2013–present). Although clerical and political leaders have significantly influenced policies affecting women’s lives over the past decade, the women of Iran have been relentless in their struggle toward equal rights and self-determination.

  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s biased interpretation of religious teachings had severe repercussions with regard to women’s rights. Writing in the Guardian on September 19, 2013, journalist Gareth Smyth noted that

  within months of Ahmadinejad’s election win in 2005, Khatami warned of a “fanatical” interpretation of Islam. The blacksmith’s son was adept in addressing poorer Iranians—and had a better understanding of them than Khatami did—but his fiery rhetoric and undiluted evocations of the 12th Imam quickly alienated the US, Europe and the Arab Sunni establishment.5

  In 2010, Ahmadinejad called on women to have larger families and to “perform their most important duty: raising the next generation!”6 To encourage this new directive, the Iranian government implemented a policy whereby it would pay families a sum of $950 for every newborn, with an additional $95 annually until the child reached eighteen years of age.7 In addition, authorities became more aggressive in apprehending women for dress-code violations, and, as referenced in the previous chapter, the government shut down Zanan, the country’s leading feminist magazine.

  Mahmud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013)

  When Ahmadinejad ran against opposition candidates in 2009, tens of thousands of women from various social classes supported the two reformist candidates who advocated for greater women’s rights. Although Ahmadinejad was declared to have won the election in a landslide, protests mounted amidst allegations of fraudulent votes. Nearly three million peaceful demonstrators turned out on the streets of Tehran, voicing their slogan “Where is my vote?” and the Iranian Green Movement was born.

  Despite the nonviolent actions of the demonstrators, there were many instances in which authorities resorted to violence. In 2009, the world watched in horror the video of twenty-six-year-old Neda Agha Soltan’s shooting death during demonstrations rejecting the outcome of the presidential election, which was repeatedly aired in the media.8

  The 2009 Green Movement.

  Neda Agha Soltan (1983-2009)

  Iranian-American historian, author, and director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University Abbas Milani asserted:

  The movement was widely seen as a new non-violent, non-utopian and populist paradigm of revolution that infused twenty-first-century Internet technology with people street power. In turn, the regime’s facade as a populist theocracy, led by a divinely sanctioned “guardian” and supported by a deeply pious nation, was torn asunder.9

  Women’s activist Parvin Ardalan gave this first-person account:

  There were so many women in the streets. It was the first time that women and men walked side by side in protest. I will never forget it. What started as a protest against the election became a general protest for human rights. All the social and political movements were there: women, students and different ethnic groups.10

  In the aftermath of the election, Ahmadinejad lost the support of many conservative women due to atrocities committed by his security forces against protesters. Turning a blind eye toward mistreatment and harsh sentencing of women protesters, Ahmadinejad also ignored allegations of rape and torture of detainees.11

  Hassan Rouhani, a critic of Ahmadinejad, ran for president in 2013 using the campaign slogan “Moderation and Wisdom.” He called for increased engagement with the outside world and initiation of talks with the West. Women hoped that his more progressive stance would bring changes in the realm of gender equality. Although Rouhani seems committed to women’s issues, and some reforms have been initiated during his tenure thus far, his views often starkly conflict with the policies and directives of the Supreme Leader, who holds the ultimate power. During a recent Women’s Day speech, Rouhani criticized “those who consider women’s presence in society as a threat” and said Iran still had “a long way to go” to ensure gender equality. He went on to state that “we will not accept the culture of sexual discrimination” and “women must enjoy equal opportunity, equal protection and equal social rights.” Ayatollah Khamenei could not find a single phrase in Rouhani’s speech to agree with; rather, he proclaimed that gender equality is “one of the biggest mistakes of Western thought.”

  Against this political backdrop, this chapter will investigate the many ways in which twenty-first-century Iranian women are fighting for equality with courage and resourcefulness—and how far they have come in their quest to gain their long overdue human rights.

  THE ONE MILLION SIGNATURES CAMPAIGN

  In 2006, a group of Iranian women’s rights activists, including Parvin Ardalan and Shirin Ebadi, started the One Million Signatures Campaign (Yek Milyun Emza bara-ye Laghv-e Qavanin-e Tab’iz Amiz)— aimed at achieving equality for women by demanding the repeal of discriminatory laws.

  Shirin Ebadi spoke eloquently of the urgent need for change:

  Is it right in the 21st century to use lashing as a form of punishment? For years, this and hundreds of similar questions have preoccupied the minds of many Iranian women. They have used various means to express their opposition to discriminatory laws, and have used every opportunity to speak of equality and justice. Whether they were arguing for the legal rights and protection of girls, opposing stoning and early marriages, or protesting against gendered discrimination in family laws, Iranian women have been voicing their opposition. And underlying all these protests was that single pressing demand: Equality of rights between women and men in the laws of Iran.

  Now, Iranian women are spelling out this demand. A campaign to reform discriminatory laws has begun. This campaign will collect one million signatures from Iranian women and men to protest against this legal degradation. The feminist movement has taken another step forward by demanding the elimination of ALL legal inequali
ties against women.12

  The campaign gathered support across the country, expanding from Tehran to Tabriz, Esfahan, Hamedan, Gorgan, Zanjan, Karaj, Yazd, and Kermanshah. Women from all walks of life became involved in raising awareness of the need for more equitable policies. While many of the campaign’s demands were unmet, the movement achieved tangible results. It successfully pressured parliament to amend the inheritance law in 2008, giving women the right to inherit their husband’s property. Also in 2008, “women were granted the right to equal blood money in accidents covered by insurance companies, and parliament prevented passage of Articles 23 and 25 of the Family Protection bill proposed by the Ahmadinejad government in 2007, which would have enabled men to take additional wives without their first wife’s consent and would have mandated that women pay a tax on their fiance’s mehrieh (dowry gift).”13

  The women of the One Million Signatures Campaign.

  The organizers of the One Million Signatures Campaign developed strength in numbers by going door-to-door in their outreach to Iranian women of varied backgrounds. Sussan Tahmasebi, Director of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programs at the International Civil Society Action Network for Women’s Rights, Peace and Security concluded:

  We managed to create a discourse on women’s rights at the highest levels of government and in the public.… Even the most conservative groups we talked to agreed that our demands were just and explained that they would not accept anything less for their own daughters! … We will continue to push for women’s equality, including under the law, until it is achieved. The lesson from the [Million Signatures] Campaign is that the independent women’s movement gets its strength from its ability to engage with the public and so it should continue to talk to citizens on the streets and in the public sphere and wherever else they can be found.14

  ADVOCATING FOR EQUALITY ONLINE

  In the aftermath of Khatami’s presidency and the elimination of a multitude of reformist organizations, women began using the Internet to sustain and propagate women’s consciousness.15 In 2001, when the Iranian government initially launched its Internet program, access to unconventional material was tenuous at best.16 Gradual improvements led to an increase in the number of journalists and activists launching locally-produced feminist sites.17

  Parvin Ardalan is one of the many activists who resorted to cyberspace to generate discussions about women’s rights. As founder and editor in chief of Zanestan, Iran’s premier online women’s magazine, launched in 2005, Ardalan was instrumental in organizing mass rallies and meetings throughout the country.18

  The website Kanoun-e Zanan-e Irani (Iranian Women’s Rights) was managed by award-winning freelance journalist and editor in chief Jila Baniyaghoub. An excerpt from a 2006 article entitled “Women driven out of social life in southern port city” testifies to the important issues covered by the online magazine.

  Soaring unemployment among educated women in the city of Dayyer in Bushehr province (southern Iran) has worried the women. Robabeh Amini, advisor to the deputy governor, says, “Up until 1985, there was only one woman in Dayyer with a diploma. But now that the number of educated women has increased, none of them have jobs. About 500 female university graduates in Dayyer are unemployed.

  Amini added, “Even the seashore here has turned into a men’s area. Women do not have the right to walk on the beach.”19

  Baniyaghoub’s 2007 and 2009 coverage of gender-related protests in Iran led to her imprisonment and thirty-year ban from journalistic activities. She believes “security forces have become more and more aggressive, even as women’s actions have become more peaceful over time.”20 Nonetheless, Baniyaghoub ended a letter to her husband, written from prison, on an optimistic note:

  We are 33 women with a variety of opinions and at times opposing points of views at Evin’s women’s ward. Some prisoners are supporters of the Green Movement, others are Baha’i, Born Again Christians or members of the Mojahedin Khalgh. My dearest Bahman, what I find most attractive about this prison is that individuals with a variety of backgrounds and opposing points of view are coexisting peacefully. We sit together, share meals, have discussions and arguments. I find this peaceful coexistence extremely gratifying. My experience here behind bars has made me hopeful that I may someday witness a similar model implemented across our society at large. I look forward to the day when men and women with a variety of political and religious beliefs live together without the need to eliminate one another, or become enemies as a result of their differences of opinion, religion or political ideologies.

  If such a coexistence is possible behind bars, why should it not be possible across our beloved land? I am hopeful that someday we will witness such a society in Iran and know that better days lie ahead.21

  Access to online articles like those published in Kanoun-e Zanan-e Irani and Zanestan, as well as other feminist-oriented Internet sites, are an invaluable outreach and networking tool. For young Iranian women in particular, social media provides a venue where they can share their frustrations over discriminatory policies and their hopes for relevant change. The following anonymous testimonials confirm the relevance of shared experiences provided by “the borderless nature of the Internet”:

  ♦“Cyberspace has been a liberating territory—a place to resist a traditionally imposed identity.…”

  ♦“The Internet is a new sphere of possibilities … to build up a connection with physically removed persons.”

  ♦“We are like scattered bits and pieces coming together.”22

  It was not long, however, before the blogosphere drew the attention of the repressive authorities. With the influx of female bloggers, the government felt obliged to formulate new Internet policies regulating the expansion of weblogs. In 2006, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) issued the Cyber Crime Bill, providing guidelines and penalties under the guise of “safeguarding individual rights as well as Islamic, national, and cultural values.”23

  While human rights defender, legal scholar, and feminist activist Mehrangiz Kar is discouraged by these policies and views them as another attempt to “stop the trend towards liberalization and to curtail the freedoms gained during the reform era,” journalist and women’s rights activist Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani remains hopeful: “We are linked together indirectly through theoretical and practical work. We work systematically; therefore, we operate like a chain.”24

  Extreme measures by the authorities to curtail the women’s rights movement have indeed been debilitating for activists, and yet the Internet continues to be an alluring phenomenon for the nation’s youth. The closure of thousands of websites has only intensified the determined resourcefulness of a youthful population, which has begun to resort to workarounds such as proxy servers, allowing the user to be redirected in disguise to the desired destination.25

  A recent study conducted by the United States Institute of Peace estimates that there are 60,000 to 110,000 active blogs in Iran today, reflecting not only the strong desire of young people to be part of the international community, but also that “as the most restive segment, Iranian youth represent one of the long-term threats to the current form of theocratic rule.”26

  Today, 70 percent of Iran’s population under the age of thirty adheres to a philosophical outlook that identifies with the ideals implanted during the reformist Khatami era.27 Their continued nonconformity with official values indicates that nominal concessions are no longer sufficient to hold their allegiance. Increased urbanization, high literacy rates, and rising unemployment have combined with exposure to satellite television and the Internet to accelerate the pace of social change among a nonconformist youth.28

  The adolescent population in Iran persists in expressing their thoughts and ideas online, despite two words that routinely appear on their screens: access denied. The following statements in the 2008 documentary Generation Tehran indicate that “despite restrictions in every aspect of their lives, Iranian youth exhibit progressive aspirations”:r />
  ♦“Our freedom should neither violate the rights of others, nor should it be confined to boundaries that limit us from improving ourselves.”

  ♦“Over here only your thoughts are allowed to be free.”

  ♦“You will never be able to successfully define people by a piece of land.”

  Interviews and footage from Internet blogs and cell phone videos amplify the voices of dissent and disillusion in the 2010 documentary The Green Wave. Director Ali Samadi Ahmadi captures the depth of anguish among the youth who envision “endurance” as their only source of salvation. The words of young bloggers are emblematic of the rise of a fearless generation that, above all else, has come to value “transparency, cultural openness, democracy, respect for Iran’s cultural diversity, respect for the rights of women, and retrieving their lost humanity.”29

  One particularly valuable website for Iranian women and youth, Tavaana, was launched in 2010. It offers educational material, podcasts and video lectures, online courses, and webinars on pertinent Iranian human rights topics, including women’s rights. Its mission statement reads:

  Tavaana E-Learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society is Iran’s pioneer e-learning institute. Tavaana—meaning “empowered” and “capable” in Persian—was launched on May 17, 2010, with a mission to support active citizenship and civic leadership in Iran through a multi-platform civic education and civil society capacity building program. Tavaana holds a vision for a free and open Iranian society, one in which each and every Iranian enjoys equality, justice and the full spectrum of civil and political liberties.30

  Tavaana’s online courses, which are provided “on a secure, anonymous platform,” include an eight-session class taught by Mehrangiz Kar, entitled “Protecting Women’s Rights in Iran” that covers the Constitution’s view toward women, a woman’s right to her body, freedom of movement, rights in marriage and divorce, protecting wives’ rights in marriage contracts, gender discrimination in criminal law, and women’s access to leadership and decision-making positions.