Middle East | Iran | Activism

Some Iranian women take off hijabs as hard-liners push back

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The simple act of walking has become a display of defiance for a young Iranian woman who often moves in Tehran’s streets without a compulsory headscarf, or hijab. With every step, she risks harassment or even arrest by Iran’s morality police whose job is to enforce the strict dress code imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. “I have to confess it is really, really scary,” the 30-year-old fire-safety consultant said in a WhatsApp audio message, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions. But she is also hopeful, saying she believes the authorities find it
Middle East | Iran | Culture

An Iranian Boxer Won Her First Official Match. Now She Says She Can’t Go Back Home.

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Sadaf Khadem, the first Iranian woman to compete in an official boxing match, won't return home to Iran after learning about an arrest warrant issued against her coach, she announced Wednesday. Khadem was in the western French town of Royan for the fight against boxer Anne Chauvin on Saturday. She won the fight while decked out in a green tank top and red shorts with a white waistband, matching the Iranian flag. Her head was also uncovered while she traded blows, all of which are against Iran's mandatory dress code for women.
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Iran arrests 29 women as headscarf protests intensify

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Tehran police have arrested 29 women for appearing in public without a headscarf as protests against the dress code in force since the Islamic revolution of 1979 intensify, Iranian media reported Friday. Those arrested were accused of public order offences and referred to the state prosecutor's office, the Fars, ILNA and Tasnim news agencies reported without elaborating. Chief prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri had played down the escalating protests on Wednesday, saying they were "trivial" and "childish" moves possibly incited by foreigners.
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Concordia professor jailed in Iran for ‘dabbling in feminism, security’

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A Montreal-based university professor being held in an Iranian jail is being investigated for “dabbling in feminism and security matters,” according to her family. Homa Hoodfar’s niece, Amanda Ghahremani, said the Tehran public prosecutor made a statement to Iranian media on the case on Friday. Ghahremani said the family doesn’t know whether Hoodfar has been charged with a crime. She said the prosecutor’s statement was the first indication of why the 65-year-old professor has been held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison since her arrest on June 6.
Middle East | Iran | Culture

Iran impounds thousands of women’s cars for “improper” hijabs

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Since March, Iranian traffic police have seized more than 40,000 cars from women driving while “improperly” wearing their hijab, or headscarf, reports Agence France Presse. A spokesperson for the traffic police told the AFP that most of the cases have been referred to the judiciary, and in some cases, women drivers have faced fines or received warnings for their “bad hijab.” This comes after Iranian police warned last month that women could risk having their cars impounded for a week if caught driving without a hijab, or wearing a hijab that shows too much hair. The Guardian reported
Middle East | Iran | Culture

Beyond glass ceiling, Iranian women face iron fence

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Iranian authorities have moved to introduce gender quotas that shut out women in its exams for those seeking government and public-sector jobs. Coupled with reports of high rates of unemployment among women, this has sparked serious doubts about the administration of President Hassan Rouhani’s approach toward increasing women’s presence in society. The Ministry of Education held its nationwide exam for new job applicants on Sept. 18, with 178,000 people participating. The exact date for the announcement of the results is unclear. But what is clear is that no matter what score female ap
Middle East | Iran | Culture

Women’s Rights In Iran: Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

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Earlier this month, Refinery29 released a video series called "Tehran Unveiled," which seeks to inspire women all over the globe by introducing them to some of Iran's most creative, fearless, and dynamic female leaders. We believe that part of that empowerment is education, not only about what women are doing in Iran now, but also about the country's history with respect to women's rights. In order to learn as much as possible, we reached out to Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D., the founding director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.
Middle East | Iran | Culture

Iranian and Afghan women: then and now

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Reader John W. sent me the photo below, showing women in Kabul in 1970 and the present, clearly meant to underscore the religously-induced difference in dress. But of course those photos could be cherry-picked.  Then I remembered that, at her talk in Vancouver, Maryam Namazie, discussing the burqa, also said that since her youth, women in her Iranian homeland have been increasingly swathed and covered according to the dictates of Islam. So I simply did a few Google Image searches, and show in each case the first four rows of photos. I make no claim that these photos are a random s
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Leading Activist Arrested Ahead of Her Trial for Peaceful Civil Activities

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Narges Mohammadi is Transferred to Evin Prison Civil rights activist and Deputy Director of the banned Defenders of Human Rights Center, Narges Mohammadi, was arrested at her home in Tehran in the early hours of  May 5, 2015, the Kaleme website, which is close to Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, reported. The report also stated that unidentified security agents threatened Ms. Mohammadi with breaking the door to enter her home. Ms. Mohammadi was reportedly transferred to Evin Prison. The reasons for Ms. Mohammadi’s arrest are not clear. She had appeared before Branch 15 of
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Nasrin Sotoudeh – Prominent Lawyer Says “Plan to Promote Virtue” Endangers Citizens and State

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The prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh spoke out strongly against the recent approval of the Plan to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, a Parliamentary bill which calls on Basij militias to enforce strict hijab (female dress) on all Iranian women, in a recent interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The Plan was approved by Iran’s Guardian Council on April 22, sending the controversial bill on its way to becoming law. In her comments to the Campaign, Sotoudeh expressed regret about the Guardian Council’s approval of the Plan. “Certainly, the pres
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Narges Mohammadi – Prominent Activist Charged with National Security Crimes for Her Peaceful Civic Activism

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A Tehran court has charged the prominent Iranian civil rights activist and deputy head of the banned Defenders of Human Rights Center, Narges Mohammadi, with crimes against national security for her peaceful activism. Narges Mohammadi told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, under Judge Salavati, has summoned her to appear in court on May 3 “for a review of charges” leveled against her. “I have three charges in a thick file, the entire evidence and documents for which are my activities, demands, and insistence on the re
Middle East | Iran | Culture

Iran’s Leading Women’s Magazine Suspended After Covering Cohabitation Outside of Marriage

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Iran’s Press Oversight Committee has decided to suspend publication of Iran’s premier women’s magazine, Zanan-e Emrooz (Today’s Women), and forward its case for prosecution to the Iranian judiciary. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the publication’s managing editor Shahla Sherkat said that she hoped to be able to convince the court to allow resumption of the monthly magazine’s publication. The Mehr News Agency announced the decision by the Press Oversight Committee, stating that the reason for the ban was the publication’s promotion
Middle East | Iran | Culture

Iranian women human rights defenders: challenges and opportunities

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More than fifty Iranian women human rights defenders are currently behind the bars in Iran. They are spending their lives in prison because they refused to be silenced: whether in voicing their political and religious beliefs, raising their ethnic demands, or simply challenging gender-related restrictions that are imposed on them as women. In order to silence women human rights defenders and prevent them from working together, the state has employed different methods. Threats, interrogations, arrests and jail terms have been the fate of tens of women who have organized gatherings, written a
Middle East | Iran | Culture

Worsening Conditions for Women in Iran Begin to Draw Attention

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President Hassan Rouhani and his Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, spoke up against discrimination against women this week, in the face of steadily deteriorating conditions for women in Iran. “The government considers it its duty to take necessary action for women to enjoy and utilize social opportunities,” said Rouhani on April 12, 2015. “The government will strive so that 50% of the society does not remain unemployed, isolated, and [Iran’s] second gender,” he added Rouhani stated during the April 12 speech that, “We have no patriarchy nor m