Iranian women demand equal rights

The world is watching as the Iranian people are protesting the election results which gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory. Voters in that country are not happy with the outcome of the election and are suspicious of fraud and manipulation.

During the presidential campaign, something unusual happened. The leading opposition candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi appeared with his wife, Zahra Rahnavard by his side, while other prominent Iranian women rallied in support of his promise to improve the status of women. This promise attracted masses of women voters to get behind Moussavi.

Throughout the campaign Rahnavard spoke out for equal rights for women. In Iran women are allowed to vote, but they may not own property, or teach male children, and in the eyes of the courts are considered to be equal to only half a man. In custody battles they sadly lose to their husbands, having no legal recourse. These types of grievances are what has sparked opposition to the status quo and has made Rahnavard an icon of the women’s movement which grows ever stronger in Iran.

At one pre-election rally Rahnavard drew a crowd of over 15,000 supporters. In a country where 70 percent of the population is under 30 years of age, strict enforcement of fundamentalist Islamic law is not as popular as it once was, and young, urban Iranians were the majority who supported the opposition candidates in the presidential election. Rahnavard told the crowd of Moussavi supporters, “You’re here because you hate fanaticism, because you dream of a free Iran, because you dream of a peaceful relationship with the rest of the world,” the Times of London reported. 

In Iran today, women have a 77 percent literacy rate and account for 60 percent of university students. And 34 million women are eligible to vote and want representation in the form of female cabinet members as well as eligibility to run for president, CNN reported. 

During Ahmadinejad’s time in office, the crackdown on women’s rights has not made for many women voters who are happy about his re-election. “Morality police” constantly patrol the streets seeking out women who don’t dress as the government currently requires is just the most visible form of repression. Women are still subjected to physical violence at the hands of male relatives. Iranian women are tired of the archaic and degrading treatment they are suffering and demand to be treated equally and with respect, as the Holy Koran demands.

The Iranian people continue to protest the results of the presidential election, even after the Supreme Leader declared the results are final. Women remain on the frontlines of the peaceful protests, even though they are being beaten and arrested in great numbers. Remaining second class citizens under the Ahmadinejad regime is not an acceptable outcome to them. The protests will continue: if not marching out in the streets they will shout from rooftops at night, or drive with their lights on during the day, and even potentially organize large scale strikes that would shut down the public sector and even the government.

What we are observing today in Iran has been a long time coming. Civil rights and women’s groups have been organizing for many years. Since 2006 the “One Million Signatures Campaign” has been gathering signatures calling for an end to the laws that discriminate against women, demanding equal rights regarding marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance and courtroom testimony.

Over the years Iranian women have been actively involved in student strikes, teacher’s strikes and in various religious organizations that the government deems to be heretical. The clerics feel that women who are active in seeking rights pose a threat to the authority of the theocracy. Lack of equality affects more than half the population and is at the center of much of the discontent being observed by the world today.

The ongoing turmoil in Iran is being captured by citizen reporters and posted on You Tube or Twittered to keep the world apprised of what is happening on the ground there. Last weekend the shooting death of a young woman named Neda Agha-Soltan was sent out for the entire world to see. That 26-year-old university student became a symbol for exactly what is going wrong in Iran.

The majority of the protesters on the streets have been women because they are fearless in their fight for freedom and equal rights and will not back down even with the threat of prison or death for their actions. They have the most to lose if the current regime denies them the rights they once enjoyed. Because of what has happened in the streets of Iran, President Ahmadinejad is forever weakened.

 ABOUT THE WRITER 

Carol Jensen is a long-time Barstow resident, graduating from Kennedy High School and Barstow College, where she was an English instructor for many years. Much of her time now is spent writing political and social commentary. She may be contacted at cajensen49@msn.com.