The post-election crackdown has not quelled our spirit: democracy will help us achieve equality
Shirin Ebadi, The Guardian, Tuesday 6th October 2009
Iran today is
a country where women are more educated than their male compatriots;
more than 60% of university students are female, as are many university
professors. Iranian women obtained the right to vote and become members
of parliament half a century ago – earlier than women in Switzerland,
who achieved this right in 1971. Since that time at least a small
number have been present in Iran's parliament. Even the present
parliament, which is monopolised by hardliners, has 13 women members.
In governments, women have often held senior positions. Even the health
minister in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet is a woman. All this is proof
that women have managed to rise within the ranks of the fundamentalists.
And yet despite the cultural, social and historical heritage of Iranian
women, the Islamic Republic has imposed discriminatory regulations
against them. A man may marry up to four wives and divorce them
whenever he desires. But mere will is not enough for a woman to divorce
Similarly, according to Iranian law, the life of women is worth half of
the man's life in terms of blood money. When drawing up compensation
after an accident, women receive half the amount allocated to men.
During a trial, a declaration by a man is worth twice that of a woman.
Women also require their husband's permission to work, travel or leave
These laws run counter to the role of women within Iranian society.
Should the health minister wish to attend a meeting of the World Health
Organisation, she must receive her husband's assent. It remains unclear
what would happen if her husband refused – Iran's seat at the WHO might
The laws imposed on Iranian women are incompatible with their status
and, consequently, the equality movement is very strong. Although
lacking a leader, headquarters, or branches, the movement is located in
the home of any Iranian who believes in equal rights for men and women.
Iranian women have chosen different ways to demonstrate their objection
to this discrimination. One of the most important is the One Million
Signatures Campaign, aimed at collecting signatures from Iranian men
and women to demonstrate their opposition to the discriminatory laws.
It is committed to dialogue and co-operation as a means to increase and
improve knowledge of discriminatory legislation.
This campaign is a peaceful protest which, unfortunately, the Iranian
government has refused to tolerate. More than 50 campaigners have been
prosecuted and some deprived of basic social rights, such as being able
to travel freely or leave the country. The most severe sentence has
been handed down to Aliyeh Eghdam Doust, who is serving a three-year
prison term. She is one of the activists arrested in the June 2006
protest in support of women's rights in Haft-e-Tir Square in Tehran.
These convictions, however, have not dampened the women's determination
in their struggle for equality. Following the June presidential
elections, women of all ages took part in demonstrations against the
official results. Armed forces shot dead a young woman, Neda Soltan.
She has now become a symbol of the Iranian demand for democracy. Women
are at the forefront of this struggle, well aware that they will obtain
equality only within a truly democratic political order.