Woman

[Rasputin]

Female-only taxi service fares well in Iranian capital

new taxi service allows Iranian women to avoid unwanted attention from men — and from Islamic authorities who frown on contact between the sexes — while traveling in Tehran. Ladies' Wireless Taxi, founded in December, has a pool of 300 drivers and picks up 400 passengers a day — all women. It started with 20 taxis but expects to have 1,000 by next March.
Iranian women can legally drive and share taxis with men. Some, though, find it uncomfortable to be squeezed into the back seat with male strangers in an Islamic society that discourages such contact and, in some cases, penalizes it with fines and arrests.

Yelda Farhang, 38, who quit her job as a medical laboratory assistant to become a driver, says she enjoys driving a cab. "This is a good way for me to be in touch with other women in the city," she says. "I try to create a calm and friendly atmosphere, and we share views and experiences."

[Rasputin]

Arrested Campaign Members Released After Court Hearing

After spending a day in detention and a court hearing, Ehteram Shadfar, 62, and her neighbor, 50, who was arrested while collecting signatures in support of the Campaign and wishes to remain anonymous, were released on their own personal guarantee. Both women’s hearings were held at the Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts.

Assault on the Campaign and its Members Continues: Ehteram Shadfar Arrested

Change for Equality: On the verge of the anniversary of the day of solidarity of Iranian women, and their peaceful demonstration objecting to discriminatory laws on June 12, 2 members of the One Million Signatures Campaign were arrested. Ehteram Shadfar, who is a member of the Women’s Cultural Center and an active member of the Campaign, was arrested along with another member of the Campaign who wishes to remain anonymous.

Ehteram (Zeinab) Shadfar’s door bell rang at 1:00pm. When she went down to answer the door, she was greeted by police, who also had in their custody a 50 year old neighbor also a member of the Campaign.

According to Maryam Taghavi, Ehteram’s daughter, at the scene of her mother’s arrest, she saw a plain clothes official, a woman in full chador and a soldier. "They were not in a police car. My mother’s friend, who is 50 years old, was arrested while collecting signatures, and then the officials came to our house to arrest my mother as well. They possessed no warrant for their arrests. When faced with my objections, the officials explained that they were taking my mother and her friend for questioning and that there was no need to worry, that they would be back home in an hour. But not only did they not return in the hour’s time promised by the officials, but instead the judge in charge of their case issued an order for arrest."

After going to several police stations, Maryam Taghavi, along with Fakhri Shadfar, Ehteram’s sister and some friends learned that the two women had been transferred to Niloufar police station and then to Vozara Detention Center, where they are currently being held.

While expressing her frustration at having to go to several police stations before finally being told where here mother and their neighbor was being held, and the fact the charges against the two women remain unknown, Maryam Taghavi, who is a medical doctor, expressed concern for her mother’s health. Officials did not allow Maryam to visit with her mother, but did allow the families to deliver medicine to the two women.

While the two women have not been officially charged, it is believed that they were arrested for collecting signatures in support of the Campaign. It should be noted that signatures, once collected, will be presented to the Parliament, so apparently it is now illegal for women’s rights activists to address the parliament in anyway.

[Rasputin]

Former Iranian Pres Shakes Woman's Hand, Outrage Ensues

It's so sad, it's almost funny. The video is posted below of Khatami actually touching the hand of two women. Two!

Apparently, the video has gone viral among the Persian expat community and among the YouTube loving generation bucking the Mullahs. The video is nearly a month old from what I gather, but the 'hard liners' in Iran just started commenting on it a few days ago. Anyway, I just got wind of it although I'm hearing from Allah that some others had it earlier.

The Peninsula:

A hardline Iranian daily yesterday launched an attack on former reformist president Mohammad Khatami who it said had publicly shaken hands with women while on a visit to Italy last month.
Excuse me.....I seem to have been overcome by the vapors.....the very thought of a man touching a woman's hand....why, it's outrageous!

But don't worry, Khatami's camp is saying he accidentally touched the women. Either that, or the video is a case of Western fauxtography. AKI:

The Baran foundation of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami issued a statement on Tuesday denying the cleric had intentionally shaken hands with women - as shown in footage of a recent trip to Italy broadcast on 'YouTube' - a gesture prohibited under Iran's strict interpretation of Islamic law banning all physical contact between men and women who are not related. The statement indicated either the footage had been edited to give a false impression or else Khatami had shaken the hands of people in a crowd without realising they were female.....

"In the crowd, it is possible a hand was shaken but the former president is against any physical contact between the sexes," said Sadegh Kharrazi, a former ambassador who accompanies Khatami in his international tours.

What's funny is that the very next sentence--the immediately following Khatami's stance against touching a woman's hand---call's Khatami a moderate. I. Kid. You. Not.
Khatami, a moderate cleric, was president of Iran from 1997 until 2005, when his ultraconservative successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected. [emphasis mine]
This is what passes for a moderate in the Islamic Republic of Iran: principled stances against hand to hand contact with women.

The 'hard line' newspaper that blasted Khatami for icky-girlie-touching was so appalled, that they refused to publish the name of the website that had circulated the video. Don't worry, I have no such qualms.

Here's the website.

In fact, I'll even go out on a limb and say I'm pro-touching women's hands.

I know it's an unpopular stance--one I'm sure the Christian Right, or the 'American Taliban' as we like to call them around here, are sure to threaten my life over it---but it had to be said. Touching a women's hand may seem immoral to the lot of you, but I can't help myself--I was just born with the need to touch women's hands!

Anyway, here's the vid. The obscene moment when Khatami shakes hands is somewhere between 4:23-4:28. John, who sent me the vid, tells me that "he could be tried by a religious tribunal and banned from teaching." Yup, sounds exactly like the religious-right to me. No difference. None.

[Rasputin]

Egypt forbids female circumcision

Egypt has announced that it is imposing a complete ban on female circumcision, also known as genital mutilation.

The announcement follows a public outcry after a young girl died during the operation.

A ban was introduced nearly 10 years ago but the practice continued to be allowed in exceptional circumstances.

A health ministry spokesman said no member of the medical profession would be allowed to perform the operation in public or private establishments.

Those who broke the law would be punished, the spokesman said.

Psychological violence

The new ban cancels out a provision that allowed the operation to be performed by qualified doctors in exceptional cases only.

But the death of a 12-year-old girl in Upper Egypt a few days ago triggered an angry barrage of appeals from human rights groups to both the government and the medical profession to act swiftly and stamp out the practice.

The doctor who carried out the operation has been arrested.

Egypt's first lady, Susanne Mubarak, has spoken out strongly against female circumcision, saying that it is a flagrant example of continued physical and psychological violence against children which must stop.

The country's top religious authorities also expressed unequivocal support for the ban.

The Grand Mufti and the head of the Coptic Church said female circumcision had no basis either in the Koran or in the Bible.

Recent studies have shown that some 90% of Egyptian women have been circumcised.

The practice is common among Muslim as well as Christian families in Egypt and other African countries, but is rare in the Arab world.

It is believed to be part of an ancient Egyptian rite of passage and is more common in rural areas.

Conservative families believe that circumcision is a way of protecting the girls' chastity.

[Rasputin]

Flash: Dedicated to the women's movement

http://www.wechange.info/english/IMG/clip/titr1/mainflash_en.html

[Rasputin]

Iranian woman to get lashes and prison

An Iranian court has sentenced a women's rights activist to almost three years in prison and 10 lashes for attending a banned rally, her lawyer said Tuesday.

Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh said Delaram Ali, 24, was her fourth client to be convicted over the protest in favor of rights for women in the conservative Islamic state. Scores of people were detained at the June 2006 demonstration.

"The women's movement is expanding and it worries the government," Sotoudeh said.

She said that the sentence handed down Monday by a court in the capital would be appealed, and that Ali was free on bail of about $21,000.

Ali was given 34 months on charges of participating in an illegal gathering, propaganda activities against the system, and disruption of public order and peace.

"The sentence is illegal in our opinion," Sotoudeh said, adding that peaceful demonstrations are allowed under Iranian law.

Activists say women face difficulties getting a divorce. They also decry unjust inheritance laws for women and the fact that a woman's court testimony is worth half that of a man.

Iran says it does not discriminate against women and that its laws are based on the Islamic Sharia code.

The judiciary said police detained 70 people last year at the illegal gathering. About 100 women had gathered to protest what they called Iran's discriminatory laws Some men also took part.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch had said earlier that six women had been convicted after taking part in the protest.

[Rasputin]

Kish Summer Festival Shines with Persian Woman Narrator

Tehran, 22 July 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) – With artistic performance of Iranian woman who narrates the poems of the epic masterpiece of Shahnameh Ferdowsi, this year the summer festival of Kish Island has been welcomed greatly by people.

According to Cultural office and public relations of Kish Free Zone Organization, Fatemeh Jibizad, researcher and narrator will narrate stories of Shahnameh Ferdowsi every evening at 18 next to the Greek ship of Kish Island.

Kish summer festival which has been started since 16th July will run to 1st of September. During the festival, tourists of Kish Island will have the chance to enjoy themselves with various cultural, artistic, and sport programs such as special night festivals, theater programs, film screening, sport competitions, circus act and live traditional, pop and folkloric Iranian music performance.

Located in Persian Gulf, Kish Island is part of Iranian Hormozgan province. Due to its status as a free trade zone, it is touted as a consumer’s paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centers, tourist attractions, and resort hotels.

[Rasputin]

براساس رأی دادگاه تسوای*بروکن (Zweibrücken) در ایالت راین*لندفالتس (Rheinland-Pfalz) آلمان، یک مرد ایرانی موظف به پرداخت مهریه*ای به مبلغ ۶۰ هزار یورو به همسرش شد

هزار سکه بهار آزادی، میزان مهریه*ای بود که یک مرد ایرانی ۱۱ سال پیش و در هنگام ازدواجش در ایران، ضمانت پرداخت آن به همسرش را بر عهده گرفته بود. در این میان پس از مهاجرت این زوج به آلمان و در سال ۲۰۰۵، این ازدواج به طلاق منتهی شد. امتناع مرد از پرداخت مهریه و استدلالش مبنی بر معتبر نبودن چنین قانونی در آلمان با توجه به داشتن تابعیت آلمانی این زوج، منجر به شکایت زن و بررسی پرونده در دادگاه تسوای*بروکن شد.



رأی اعلام شده اما بر خلاف پیش*بینی*های مرد از آب در آمد، چرا که دادگاه بر اساس موافقت*نامه*ای که در سال ۱۹۲۹ میان آلمان و ایران منعقد شده بود، شکایت زن را قانونی دانست و درخواست وی را به رسمیت شناخت. پس از برآوردهای انجام شده، هزار سکه بهار آزادی معادل ۶۰ هزار یورو به زن تعلق گرفت.



مهریه می*بایست پس از صدور حکم طلاق، پرداخت شود، اما زن با توجه به رأی صادره، این حق را داراست تا زودتر از موعد نیز آن را دریافت کند.

[Rasputin]

در خبری خواندم که در کنیا هم کمپین "یک میلیون امضاء برای تبعیض مثبت" به منظور ایجاد 50 کرسی برای نمایندگان زن در مجلس آن کشور اعلام موجودیت کرده است. نمی دانم آیا این زنان کنیایی از کمپین یک میلیون امضاء ما در ایران خبر دارند یا نه؟ چه بسا که خبر داشتند و فعالیت های ما یا زنان مراکش الگویی بوده است برای پدید آوردن این حرکت ابتکاری در کشوری در قاره آفریقا. چه زیبا که زنان کشورهای جنوب و در حال توسعه از تجربیات هم می آموزند و به ابتکارات هم به این شکل بها می دهند. در کشور کنیا، قطعا دستگاه های امنیتی و قضایی که این زنان را به پیروی و خط گرفتن از یک مشت زن ایرانی محکوم کنند وجود ندارد. اگر داشت، برای رد گم کنی هم که شده ، حتما زنان کنیا -برای ایجاد فرصت های برابر در حوزه تصمیم گیری - به جای جمع آوری 1 میلیون امضاء 500 هزار یا 2 میلیون امضا جمع آوری می کردند. شاید هم زنان کنیایی اصلا از فعالیت های ما در ایران بی خبر باشند. ولی چه جالب که در اقصا نقاط دنیا زنان به گونه ای همشکل با بکار گیری مسالمت آمیز ترین و مردمی ترین روشها، یعنی ارتباط گیری با مردم و جمع آوری امضاء به منظور ارائه به نمایندگانشان در مجلس اقدام به بهبود وضیعت خود و نسل آینده می کنند.

خواندن این خبر بهانه ای شد تا کمی وبگردی کنم و اطلاعات بیشتری در مورد حرکت زنان در کنیا بدست آورم. در یک سایت خبری خواندم که این طرح در پایان یک نشست سراسری که به موضوع زنان در قدرت و تصمیم گیری اختصاص داشت اعلام موجودیت کرده است. شرکت کنندگان در این نشست شامل فعالان زنان، فعالان سیاسی و نمایندگانی از دولت، مجلس و انجمن های غیر دولتی بودند. خوش به حال زنان کنیایی که می توانند در قالب انجمن های غیر دولتی وارد طرح های جامع و ملی برای بهبود وضعیت زنان کشورشان بشوند. حتما این انجمن ها این قدر پا گرفته اند که با این کار مسالمت آمیز مورد اتهام امنیتی قرار نگیرند و حتی بعد از اجرای چنین طرحی نگرانی از هجوم ماموران امنیتی، بازداشت اعضاء و منحل شدن سازمان خود ندارند. چه بسا که در قالب این نوع فعالیت ها بتوانند با مردم ارتباط خوبی بر قرار کنند و همسو با انگیزه های بنیانگذاران این انجمن ها فرصت بهتری را برای خدمت به مردم و کشورشان ایجاد کنند. این زنان به منظور اطلاع رسانی قصد دارند نشستهای مشابهی در کشورهای دیگر نیز بر گزار کنند. چه خوب که زنان کنیا هراسی از سفر به کشورهای خارجی ندارند، هنگام خروج از کشور هم گاه با ممانعت نیروهای امنیتی مواجه نمی شوند تا شرکت کنندگانی را که قصد حضور در کارگاه های آموزشی مهارتی دارند، در فرودگاه، مانع شوند وبازهم چه خوب که زنان کنیایی توسط ارگان هایی که گاه هویتشان مشخص و گاه نامشخص است به خاطر فعالیت های مسالمت آمیزشان ممنوع الخروج نمی شوند.

نکته جالب اینکه فعالان حوزه زنان در کنار فعالان سیاسی و نمایندگان دولتی در این برنامه حضور داشته اند و با همکاری یکدیگر این طرح را تعریف کرده و پیش می برند. پس این جور که معلوم است نمایندگان دولتی در کنیا خود را موظف می دانند که برای بهبود وضعیت زنان و کشورشان دست به اقدامات کلان بزنند و در نقش دولتی صرفا به حل مشکلات شخصی مردمی که به آنها مراجعه می کنند (مثل یک مدد کار اجتماعی) اکتفا نمی کنند. چقدر خوب که در کنیا کاندیداهای انتخاباتی نیز در این راه با زنان فعال همراه هستند و با رقابت های بیهوده وقت تلف نمی کنند. احتمالا این کاندیداها هم از نقد خوششان نمی آید ولی احتمالا با هرانتقاد توسط گروه های فعالان زنان از در قهر با آنها در نمی آیند و آنجور که در تمام دنیا رسم است کاندیداها بدنبال گروه های اجتماعی می روند و با حمایت علنی و شجاعانه از خواسته ها و برنامه های آنها، این گروهها را جذب می کنند. به احتمال زیاد بعد از انتخاب شدن هم به قول های خود عمل می کنند، و مردم و حامیان خود را برای نگه داشتن موقعیت حزبی و یا شخصی خود فراموش نمی کنند، چون خوب می دانند که فقط با حمایت مردم می توانند دوباره به جایگاه قدرت دست یابند!

در این گزارش خبری همچنین نوشته شده است که بعد از اعلام موجودیت، این طرح در یک تجمع توسط یک زن حقوقدان و فعال حقوق بشر به جمع قابل توجهی از مردم ارائه شد. به نظر می رسد که در کنیا تجمعات مسالمت آمیز بر طبق قانون اساسی آن کشور آزاد تعریف شده و چه خوب که در آن کشور قانون گذاران به قوانین خود احترام می گذارند. شاید زنان کنیایی هیچ وقت هنگام برگزاری تجمعات مسالمت آمیز توسط پلیس زن و یا مرد مورد خشونت قرار نگرفته اند. آنهم پلیس زنی که فعالان زن سالها در حمایت از حضورشان در عرصه عمومی دفاع کرده اند. چه غمگین می شد اگر همین پلیس زن در اولین ماموریت رسمی و جمعی خود به زنانی که برای دفاع از حقوق زنان از زندگی شخصی و منابع مالی و فکری خود مایه می گذارند هجوم می برد و دختران جوانی را که فقط در پارک نشسته و با پلاکارد نظر خود را بیان می کردند بر آسفالت داغ خیابان کتک زنان می کشاندند و به زندان می انداختند. دخترانی که به جز عشق به کشور و تعهد به بهبود آینده خود و شناخته شدن بعنوان یک انسان برابر در چارچوب قوانین کشورشان خواست دیگری نداشتند. به احتمال زیاد در کنیا اگر پلیس مرتکب چنین عمل غیر انسانی در برابر شهروندان کشور می شد دستگاه های قضایی برای حفظ حقوق شهروندی و اعتماد مردم به دولت با پلیس متخلف برخورد می کردند و برای دخترانی که به این شکل مسالمت آمیز خواسته های خود را بیان می کردند و مورد خشونت پلیس قرار می گرفتند حکم شلاق صادر نمی کردند.

زنان کنیایی اعلام کردند که قصد دارند در عرض یک سال یک میلیون امضاء جمع آوری کرده و قبل از انتخابات به مجلس ارائه دهند. خوشا به حال زنان کنیایی چرا که در جمع آوری امضاهایی که قرار است به مجلس ارائه دهند دستشان باز است، و لابد تایید و پشتیبانی دولت و مجلس را به عنوان ارگان رسمی و تصمیم گیرنده نهایی کشورشان در پی دارد. حتما برای اطلاع رسانی در این رابطه دستشان در برگزاری سمینار هم باز است و دائم در جواب درخواست برای تهیه مکان پاسخ رد نمی شنوند و یا در آخرین لحظات قبل از شروع برنامه با ممانعت خشمگین و تهدید نیروهای امنیتی مواجهه نمی شوند و ناگزیر مجبور نمی شوند که جلسات را به داخل خانه های خود منتقل کنند—فضایی که خصوصی محسوب می شود و قاعدتا باید از ورود بی دعوت نیروهای امنیتی به مهمانی های خصوصی در امان باشد.

قطعا هم این زنان در کنیا از هر امکانی برای ارتباط گیری با مردم بهره می برند و در اماکن عمومی مثل پارکها، مترو، خیابان، اتوبوس، و محله ها وارد گفتگو با مردم می شوند و از طرحشان سخن می گویند. از تجربیات مردم کشورشان استفاده می کنند، از آنها یاد می گیرند تا بتوانند با روش هایی بهتر برای بهبود وضیعت کشورشان تلاش کنند. اگر در این گفتگوها توانستند مردم را با طرح خود همراه کنند، حتما امضائی به امضاهای دیگر اضافه می کنند و همواره هراس از بازداشت ندارند--هراس به سر بردن در بند تنبیهی زنان یا به عبارت دیگر بند فراموشخانه زنان که حتی مقامات دولتی و زندان هم به آن دسترسی ندارند. آنها حتما برای جمع آوری امضا هراسی از محبوس شدن درسلول های انفرادی ، تحمل جلسات متعدد بازجویی _ بر خلاف قوانین کشورشان با چشم بند و رو به دیوار – تهدید مدام و اتهام زنی به همکاری با بیگانه و دشمن ندارند. قطعا این عمل خیلی ساده و مسالمت آمیز جمع آوری امضاء به منظور ارائه به قانونگزار در کشور کنیا منجر به بازداشت و ترس و هراس نمی شود و به همین دلیل در یک سالی که حامیان این طرح برای اجرای آن پیش بینی کردند فرصتی مناسب برای اطلاع رسانی، ارتباط با مردم و لابی با قانونگزار را خواهند داشت.

قطعا رسانه های کشور، چه دولتی و چه خصوصی در این یک سال با شوق و ذوق این برنامه را دنبال می کنند و در مورد آن با صداقت و صراحت خواهند نوشت. با پوشش خبری مناسب ارتباط این فعالان را با مردم و نهادهای دولتی گسترش می دهند و رسانه ها با ارائه نقد به این فعالان فرصتی می دهند تا همواره عملکرد خود را اصلاح کنند و بهبود بخشند. شاید در کشور کنیا نهادهای عالی امنیتی به درستی این حرکت مسالمت آمیز را بعنوان اقدامی برای بهبود روابط دولت و مردم تلقی می کنند و متوجه می شوند وقتی مردم قانونگزار را مورد خطاب قرار می دهند ضدیتی با امنیت نظام ندارند و به همین دلیل آنان را بر انداز تلقی نمی کنند. از همین روحتما در کشور کنیا این نهادهای عالی رتبه امنیتی بعنوان نهادهایی که برنامه هایی با تداوم، استراتژیک و طولانی مدت برای کشور تعریف می کنند و به گونه ای عقل سلیم هر کشوری محسوب می شوند، رسانه ها را از پوشش خبری چنین فعالیت مسالمت آمیزی منع نمی کنند—فعالیتی که به درستی نشان می دهد که مردم آن کشور به آینده بهتری اعتقاد دارند و وظیفه خود می دانند که در بهبود کشورشان سهیم باشند و حق خود می دانند که در این راه با نمایندگانشان ارتباط بر قرار کنند.

خوشم می آید از کنیا و زنان شجاعی که آنجا سهمی برای خود می خواهند و در این راه قدم بر می دارند. چه خوب که زنان کنیایی برای جمع آوری یک میلیون امضا مثل ما زنان ایرانی اینقدر با مشکل مواجه نیستند

[Rasputin]

Some might think that the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan has liberated the Afghan people, especially the women. While there is no denying that some steps have been taken to improve the situation of women, for the majority of women life has become harder. With no way out, many women, in an attempt to liberate themselves from the pressures put upon them, are attempting suicide in the worst possible ways.

One of the most common methods, which hundreds of women use, has been self-burning. Reports show that within the last several years, the number of women, aged 14-27, who have burnt themselves, has been well over 300 per year, and that is only the ones who survived to admit or are reported.

Last year, my husband, Amin Palangi, and I, decided to explore the reasons behind women's self-burning in Afghanistan in a documentary film. However, like many, we had never heard of women's self-burning in Afghanistan and were under the impression that women's situation had improved after the fall of the Taliban. It was during our initial trip to Afghanistan, to visit my father, Mahmoud Fotouhi, who was then the first chief-executive of Aryan Bank, a co-joint Iran/Afghan bank, that we realized that the situation of women was far worse than the world presumed.

On the surface, especially in Kabul, women seem to be leading healthy lives as they dot the streets mostly in their blue burqas. They appear as a present source within the society, as students, nurses, office workers, teachers, and even some brave ones as singers, actresses, reporters, camerawomen and filmmakers.

But, below the surface, in the privacy of the domestic realm, much goes unseen and unheard. In fact we first heard of women's self-burning through a friend who worked at an NGO. The stories we heard were horrendous and we felt a great obligation to the innocent women who were committing such acts.

Our investigation, followed by a second trip to Afghanistan, revealed some of the most unexpected causes of women's self-burning. Ironically, one of the greatest reasons for the increase of the number of self-burnings has been the relative freedom which the Afghan society has gained after the fall of the Taliban. Women, who were restricted within the house, never having heard about how other women in other countries were living, were now exposed to the harsh comparison of their own lives with those other women through the media, internet and foreign NGOs. In fact the idea to commit self-burning was one imported to Afghanistan from India and some parts of Iran.

The NGOs, in their attempt to 'free' Afghan women and give them their rights, with their good intention, in fact contributed to Afghan women's problems. Whereas the NGOs taught women about their rights and educated them, men were normally left out of the picture. The women having learnt about rights would have wanted to take the rights from their illiterate husbands, who in turn treat them worse because they do not understand what she seeks.

Yet, the relative freedom and the NGOs are just some of the causes. Pressure from the family seemed to have been one of the other leading causes of self-burning. Some of the victims we met admitted that constant dispute and pressure from their father, husband and in-laws aggravated them to commit suicide. In a county where child-marriage is common, and where girls as young as seven are sold to men as old as sixty, such a way out does not come as a surprise.

While the government and some women's advocacy groups are addressing the issue and raising awareness among the women and their families, the Western world remains relatively unaware of this problem. Our hope in making this documentary, which is to be out sometime early next year, is to bring to the attention of the world that Afghan women are suffering under horrendous conditions and that we all need to put our strength together to help these women regain their strength.

[Rasputin]

UN must probe women's rights in Iran - Ebadi

By Fredrik Dahl

Tehran - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi said she had asked the United Nations to investigate the status of women in Iran and accused Iranian authorities of detaining activists demanding more women's rights.

Ebadi, speaking at a press conference on Monday marking the first anniversary of a campaign to gather one million signatures in favour of women's rights in the Islamic state, said she had contacted top UN human rights official Louise Arbour.

She said about 50 activists had been detained over the last 14 months for involvement in women's rights protests and some of them faced charges of acting against national security. She did not say how many - if any - were still being held.



Western diplomats and rights groups say Iran is taking a tougher line against dissent in general, possibly in response to increased international pressure over its disputed nuclear activities, which the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

The Islamic Republic rejects allegations it discriminates against women, saying it follows sharia law.

Tehran usually reacts dismissively toward criticism from any foreign organisations, including the United Nations.

"I have written a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and complained for the first time, and said this is the situation of women rights in Iran and these are our demands," Ebadi said.

"Please send a special rapporteur to Iran to report on women, to investigate the conditions for women," she said, describing her message to Arbour.

Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work on women's and children's rights.

Campaigners say Iranian women face difficulties in getting a divorce. They also criticise inheritance laws they say are unjust and the fact that a woman's court testimony is worth half that of a man's.

Activists say scores of people were detained at protests for greater women rights in Tehran in June 2006 and in March this year, which authorities had declared illegal.

In April, an Iranian news agency said four campaigners were detained while collecting signatures for the petition demanding equal legal rights with men.

"Unfortunately, about 50 people involved in gatherings demanding equality... had cases (against them) and were in prison for a while and some of them are waiting for their verdicts now," Ebadi said.

US-based Human Rights Watch earlier this year said six women were convicted after taking part in last year's protest.

Women's rights campaigners vowed to press on with the signature campaign, but did not say how many they had collected since it was launched in August last year.

Although women are legally entitled to hold most jobs in Iran, it remains a male-dominated society. Women cannot run for president or become judges but in recent years they have started to work in police and fire departments.

"Many women believe they are equal with men and they want to prove it," said one campaigner. "I believe men agree with us."

[Rasputin]

Beyond the veil: Lives of women in Iran

Iranian law still favors men, but women in that country are more educated and have a more visible role in life than in many other Islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia. And things are getting better, according to the first woman to serve as a cabinet secretary in that country.

But to see that, Massoumeh Ebtekar told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer, Westerners need to get over their obsession with the hijab, the head scarf that Iranian women are required to wear by law.

“Hijab is a kind of social act,” Ebtekar said in a live interview conducted in Tehran, the Iranian capital. “I don’t think it is a big issue for women, because there are a lot of issues for women that are so important, and hijab is not a big thing.”

Women are not equal under Iran’s constitution, adopted in 1979 after the revolution that overthrew Shah Reza Pahlavi. The constitution mandates that the legal code adhere to Sharia law, the Islamic moral code based on the Koran. Article IV of that constitution states: “all civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria.”

Sharia has an Old Testament flavor, providing, for example, for public lashings for certain offenses, and death by stoning for women convicted of adultery.

But there is also a cultural aspect. Iran is a Persian nation, and women there can do many things that they cannot do in some other countries, including Saudi Arabia, which is an Arab nation. For example, in Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive, get a university education or hold public office. In Iran, women not only drive personal vehicles, some drive taxis. They may hold public office, and women make up 65 percent of all university students.

In Tehran, there is a professional fire company composed entirely of women, who wear hijabs under helmets while responding to fire calls. It is the only company of female firefighters in the Middle East.

Also, while Iranian women must cover their hair, they do not have to cover their faces. As that is the only part of their bodies they can show, NBC’s Richard Engel reported, they want it to be as perfect as possible, and plastic surgeons who do rhinoplasties — nose jobs — do a roaring business. Women whose noses are still bandaged after the surgery are a common sight on Tehran’s streets.

[Rasputin]

Women Suffer For Equality In Iran

Iranian law institutionalizes discrimination against women in a variety of ways. Under the law, women have fewer rights than men in matters relating to marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, and civil compensation. An Iranian woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man's. The majority of university students in Iran are females, yet they are not treated equally when they enter the workforce.

In Iran, a woman must obtain a male relative's permission to travel abroad. In Iran, women may not run for president, nor are they allowed to be judges. And punishment for so-called immoral behavior is meted out disproportionately to women in Iran.

To change these laws, a petition drive was started in 2006. The campaign was launched after a series of peaceful demonstrations by women's rights activists were violently broken up by Iranian security forces. The campaign relies on volunteers to hand out pamphlets describing Iran's current laws and to offer those interested a chance to sign the petition demanding changes. The goal is to collect one million signatures.

Mahnaz Afkhami is president of the international non-governmental organization Women's Learning Partnership. She praises the signature campaign in Iran as "an educational process as well as a demand for change and for reform":

"It is a grassroots campaign, which at the very least educates the public and gains public consensus. And at most, which is the highest hopes they have, and we all share, is that it will end up in more egalitarian laws regarding women."

The response of the Iranian government has been harsh. Many women's rights activists have been given prison terms and some have been sentenced to flogging. The situation has become so bad that Iranian lawyer and Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi has written to the U-N High Commissioner for Human Rights asking for an investigation. "Campaigning to end discriminatory laws should not send a woman to jail," said Ms. Ebadi.

The U.S. agrees. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, in a statement, said that "the United States stands with the women of Iran, who courageously struggle for their universal rights and justice in their country."

Despite the arrests of many women activists, women in Iran continue to struggle to achieve basic rights and dignity.

[Rasputin]

The British House of Lords (BHL) is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as 'the Lords'. The Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as the Commons), and the Lords together comprise the Parliament. In May 2000 a historic change was made to the way in which nonparty-political members of the BHL appointed. The British Appointments Commission (BAC) was given the key role of recommending to The Queen the names of individuals BAC think should be appointed on merit. The BAC is a non-statutory advisory body set up by the British Prime Minister to make recommendations for non-party political peerages. The BAC has to find people of distinction who will bring authority and expertise to the BHL. The Commission recommends individuals on merit and their ability to contribute effectively to the work of the House. On October 18, 2007 it was announced that Haleh Afshar, an Iranian female professor, would be created a Baroness and join the BHL as a non-party political peer. In this article the life story of Professor Haleh Afshar as the First Iranian Woman who got a Non-Political Seat in BHL would be briefly studied and discussed.



HER LIFE

She was born in 1944 in Tehran, Iran. Her father was late Hassan Afshar, a Professor of the Faculty of Law at Tehran University.

She was an undergraduate at the University of York, (a campus university in York, England) in the 1960s.

She worked as a journalist before and after her initial studies at York, where she was to return after receiving her PhD from Cambridge University.

Haleh Afshar has served on the British Council and the United Nations Association of which she is Honorary President of International Services. Haleh Afshar is now a Professor in Politics and Women's Studies at the University of York. She is also Visiting Professor of Islamic Law at the International Faculty of Comparative Law, University of Strasbourg. Haleh Afshar is the founder and Chair of the Muslim Women’s Network, and she is an advisor to the British Government on public policy relating to Muslim women and Islamic law.

She is married to Maurice Dodson who is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at The University of York, UK. (His research interests are Metrical Diophantine Approximation, Harmonic Analysis and Applications to Signal Processing, Chaos and Biology).



HER WORKS

In addition to working in the fields of development studies and women's studies Haleh Afshar has also been teaching and researching on issues concerned with Islam and Politics, women and conflict as well as race and equality. She has edited a volume entitled Iran: A Revolution in Turmoil, Macmillan 1989 , and has written a book entitled Islam and the Post Revolutionary State in Iran, written under the pseudonym (in Persian: Naam-e-Mossta-aar) Homa Omid, Macmillan 1994 and Islam and Feminisms, Macmillan 1998.


There is an active group of research students working with Afshar in these fields and the current work include issues relating to women and work in Iran, women war violence and survival in Palestine, Lebanon, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, Islam and politics in Turkey and Islamist women in Turkey, as well as research concerning Muslim women in the UK in terms of their faith, their lived experiences and the impact of education on their lives.

Haleh Afshar is also part of a group working on issues related to race and ethnicity. The group recently completed its work on an ESRC research project to conduct a comparative study of empowerment and dis-empowerment for British women in their third age. ESRC, The Economic and Social Research Council, is the UK's leading research and training agency addressing economic and social concerns.



HER REMARKS

In addition to her academic studies, she has written widely as a journalist on Muslim women and the War on Terror.

In 2002, a year after 9/11, she said in an interview with Stephen Lewis of the Press that, 'Fundamentally, the world hasn't changed at all. It is getting harder to get on an aeroplane. But I don't think really that the world is any different than it was a year ago. Terrorism did not start on September 11, and it won't stop there. Perhaps what September 11 really succeeded in doing was making us aware of just how dangerous a world it was that we already lived in. There were both winners and losers from the tragedy that was 9/11. The winner was the United States arms industry, which has grown fat on the profits of fear. The main losers - apart, of course, from the victims who lost their lives, and the families who were left behind to grieve - have been ordinary Muslims. Ultimately there is only one way to bring an end to terrorism, and it is not by going to war. It is by tackling the injustices that are at the root of terrorism.'


In October 2007, after her appointment in the BHL, she said that, “I was really very surprised and honored to be considered a People's Peer. In fact, I was lost for words when I was told. I shall certainly be fighting for equal opportunities for minorities and for women as I have always done.”

[Rasputin]

We pay out of pocket for trips to other cities. We print the booklets with the $5 membership fees. Nobody asks for compensation for the articles on the website. We hold the workshops in the homes of volunteer women. We also get donations and prayers from women who have lost hope and have put their faith in our work. What would we need 15 million euros for? (1)

Our workshops don't need video projectors. To cut down on cost, we do not print nor photocopy our notes and displays; they are handwritten with markers. We have bought a few different colors of markers to make the notes more visually appealing. That, we knew we could afford. We take over-night bus rides when traveling to other cities, so the seats on the bus become our nightly accommodations. Upon arrival, we spend the day as guests in the homes of young and energetic local women. They offer us their homemade food and insist on paying for our local taxi ride. We feel indebted and grateful for their kind and sincere hospitality every time.

The One Million Signatures Campaign does not require a wealth of money; it requires a wealth of patience and persistence. We hold the workshops in local homes; a different home every week. We move the furniture so the participants can see each other and the wall better. We tape the display sheet to the wall. You can see the tapes from previous workshops still stuck to the paper. I can count the layers of tapes on this paper and tell you how many workshops we have held so far; how many women's homes we have visited; with how many people we have talked about the laws; and how many times a woman's tears trickled down her face and her eyes told us that these laws have touched her life as well.

Each time I see the wear in the paper, I tell myself, "We will type and print these notes next time." When the activists from other cities came to Tehran, on the lunch table they saw spaghetti with imitation meat (made of soy) and kashk-e-bademjan (2) with no walnuts. Even the pickled vegetables were provided by one of the women who had previously volunteered her home for a meeting. I'm talking about Akram Khanoum. I remembered my mother's words, "making kashk-e-bademjan means making a dish with no money." This doesn't need 15 million euros, does it? The Campaign needs a compassionate heart.

The Campaign needs the support of the poor 80-year-old woman, who tells us, "You have arrived so late! Now that I am about to die! Where were you when they forced me to marry my husband? When my husband was beating me I would whisper ëNobody cares for the flowers. Nobody cares for the goldfish. Nobody wants to believe that the garden is dying (3).'"

A 60 year old woman comes to my office with her two daughters and two sons. They are asking me what they can do so their father can't throw their mother out of the house after 45 years of marriage. They say, "He has married another woman and has brought her home; a home that our mother has worked in for 45 years, where she has raised her children, where she has been a wife for her husband and a maid for the house. All of her Mehrieh (4) is $4000, which he is giving to her and is saying let's go get a divorce tomorrow."

Daughters and sons are talking and the woman is watching in silence. How can I look her in the eye? She is like my mother. She is like your mother. Her whole identity is her home and her children. Everyone knows her as Haj-agh's wife, and now Haj-agha wants to kick her out of the house. Her eyes are filled with plea. Her chador slides back and a bruise appears on the side of her face. She thinks if she is too humiliated to speak, at least she must look straight in my eyes with all her power. With her eyes she wants to say, no she wants to shout, to cry out and ask how is she going to explain this to her grandchildren; To her daughter-in-laws and son-in laws? Where is she going to live? Who is the young woman who is in her home now? Mother wants her share; her share from life, from suffering. Can secret international forces help her?! Tell them to do it! Does 15 million euros restore her good name?

We have lost all that we could lose. We are walking without a light: How much must one pay?

When my grandfather died two years ago I was wondering, with 5 sons and three daughters, how much of his small house will be left to his wife, my grandmother (5). With my calculations, one-eighth of the building (not the land) would have been $8000. What could she do with that money? This was the fruit of 50 years of her life in that house, working for her husband and seven children. My father said the old building was worth nothing and it was only the land that had value. I didn't cry when grandma died within a month of my grandfather's death. I didn't cry when my trust was dangling from the feeble rope of justice and they were shattering the hearts of my lanterns all over the town; when they were blindfolding the eyes of my innocent love with the black rag of law.

I wish we could move away from in between the extreme left and the fundamentalist right so the sound of their clash could deafen the world's ears. One side says "you accept the bases of this government and just want to make inheritance and Dieh equal," the other side says "Islam is in danger." One side says "you think this government will care about one million signatures and change anything?" the other says "western propaganda has called Iranian laws unjust to women." This one says "you think you can have a revolution from coffee-shops?" the other cries out "they want to have a soft overthrow." And I think to myself, ëin the land of midgets where the standards have always traveled on the orbit of zero, why should we stop? Why?'

Step out of the world of nuclear weapons negotiations, U.S., the Netherlands and the west; I want to tell you something. I suggest that you seal the borders and raise the walls so the western media can't hear, so no one can hear this but you. Political party members! Parliament members! Artists! Athletes! Keyhan Newspaper! University Professors! Leftists! Conservatives! Government Supporters! Opposition groups! Gather around so I can tell you what happens to your sisters and mothers in the backrooms of their homes because of the law of Obligatory Sexual Obedience (Tamkin). I want to tell you that when your daughter was 9 months pregnant and her husband forcefully slept with her and she had to go to the hospital, she couldn't tell you and she couldn't tell the court because she had to be sexually obedient.

O Friend! O Brother! When you get to the moon, remember to write the history of the massacre of roses.

It's a cold winter night. I'm sitting next to the heater with Jelveh and we are drinking tea. A volunteer calls and tells us she has a religious get together with some other women tomorrow and wants to talk to her friends, neighbors and family about the discrimination in the law and about the campaign. She needs booklets. We put down our cups and drive to Apadana. I'm sitting in the car and watching Jelveh talk to the woman in front of the apartment building. Jelveh smiles and hands her the booklets. I'm waiting for the woman to give her a few sheets of signatures but Jelveh comes back empty-handed. She sees the question in my eyes and tells me, "She said she likes the signatures that she has collected and doesn't want to give them up yet." She is a housewife and mother of three. Yesterday in the grocery store she had collected signatures from five other women and her husband had collected thirty from his co-workers.

I wish I could go full speed towards the horizon. A window is all I need, a window to the moment of awareness, gaze, and silence.

Take the 15 million euros -- it is all yours!

The decision to collect one million signatures is the will of the men and women of this land. The petition is signed by the people from this country, because we think if they don't want it, nothing can change. The resources of this campaign are the determined Iranian girls and boys who want to improve their own environment. A few hundred million dollars, euros, dinars, or rials, can't soothe their pain. The wealth of the campaign is not monetary; the wealth of this campaign is the free people of Iran who are confident in each other and hopeful for the future.

Tomorrow comes soon because someone is coming,

someone is coming,

someone who is with us in her heart

who is with us in her breath, in her voice,

you can't arrest her arrival, handcuff it, or jail it

and she will spread the table,

and she will give us our share.

I have had a dream.

* Note: This titled "Look in the Mirror to Find Your Saviour" was written on March 11, 2007 and in response to the accusations printed and generated by Keyhan Daily paper in Tehran. The paper falsely claimed that the campaign has received 15 million euros of financial support from the Netherlands. Accusations of links to foreign countries are often used as a tool to discredit and silence civil activists.

Translation by: Roja Bandari

* Read the original article in Farsi.
* For a detailed financial report of the Campaign visit here.

NOTES

(1) Reference to a Kayhan newspaper article, falsely accusing the campaign of receiving 15 million euros from the government of Netherlands.

(2) Kashk-e-Bademjan is a dish made from eggplants.

(3) All poems are from late Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad

(4) Mehrieh is the agreed-upon amount of money a woman is entitled to when she gets a divorce.

(5) According to current Iranian law, a woman does not inherit any portion of land from her husband.