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 | Activism

Was This the Poem That Sent a Young Iranian Woman to Prison?

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An award-winning poet has been taken into custody by Iranian officials after a video of her reading a poem critical of the head coverings women must wear in the Islamic Republic of Iran went viral. Hila Sedighi was arrested at a Tehran airport Thursday upon return from a trip to the United Arab Emirates, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group based in New York City.
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.