07/03/2024
Women’s rights defenders in Iran
are currently behind bars on International Women’s Day
On the 8th of March, the international Women’s Day, we would like to draw everyone’s attention to the plight of women’s rights defenders in Iran. These women have continuously been violently prosecuted and put behind bars for their courageous stance against one of the most oppressive laws and practices imposed by the Islamic regime in Iran.
For the past forty-five years, women in Iran have been the main force for change. On March 8, 1979, shortly after the Islamic regime hijacked the revolution in Iran, women bravely rallied against the Hijab law imposed by the regime chanting “We didn’t have a revolution to go backward”. Since then, Iranian cities and towns have witnessed an ongoing resistance by the women challenging the brutal enforcement of the Hijab law by the regime. Women in Iran have also been consistently fighting back against gender apartheid and violence against them by the Islamic regime.
In 2022, following the death in custody of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, women in Iran initiated a women-led revolution. Their unwavering fightback against one of the most dangerous, brutal and violent regimes on earth, their slogan of “WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM “, and their leadership have been mobilising people across Iran which have also been echoing around the world.
However, the fight for women’s rights in Iran comes at an immense cost for women. For over four decades, women have endured insults, attacks, expulsion from job and education, arrests, torture and even death at the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). By the order of the IRGC, Prisons across Iran have been systematically subjecting women to a planned and strategic sexual assault, including rape.
Under the Islamic regime, women have been subjected to gender persecution and apartheid. Crimes against women are legalized and systematically implemented by the Islamic regime in Iran. Despite all these, gender apartheid is not declared as a crime under international law!
Presently, hundreds of women’s rights defenders are being held in horrifying conditions in prisons across Iran. They have been given lengthy sentences on basales and fabricated charges in kangaroo courts controlled by the IRGC. Despite facing more severe punishments and continuous violence, female political prisoners have been boldly calling on the people in Iran to stand up against their suppression and death penalty sentences. In February 2024, sixty-one female political prisoners in the notorious Evin prison went on a hunger strike to protest against the executions by the Islamic regime.
These courageous female political prisoners have been continuing their fight for freedom, even from inside prison. They deserve our utmost respect and support. Please see the list below to meet some of these imprisoned courageous women.
On the International Women’s Day in 2024, we urge all of you to help us in our worldwide campaign to support these brave women in their fight and for their release. Together, we can do this. You can make a difference by:
1. Writing to the head of state in Islamic regime in Iran: Demand the immediate release of women’s rights defenders and all political prisoners in Iran.
2. Lobbying your government: Urge your members of parliament and government to pressure the Islamic regime for the release of jailed women’s rights defenders and all of the political prisoners in Iran.
3. Appealing to the UN: Demand that the United Nations declare gender apartheid a crime under international law.
Let us stand united in the pursuit of justice, equality, and freedom for the women of Iran. Let us stand with women in Iran and support the “WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM “movement!
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran www.cfppi.org
For media inquiries, please contact:
Shiva Mahbobi, Spokeswoman
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
shiva.mahbobi@gmail.com Tel: +447572356661