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.
North America | United States | Activism

American Cancer Society, Stop Giving Carcinogenic Cosmetics to Women With Cancer

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I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in December 2014. My whole world changed in 15 minutes. I underwent a bilateral mastectomy that same month and soon thereafter began chemotherapy. Not long after I started chemo, my hair fell out. My eyebrows and lashes disappeared. I felt alone, scared and sick. It wasn't pretty. I started noticing posters at my hospital advertising a program called Look Good Feel Better, which is run by the American Cancer Society and the Personal Care Products Council, which I learned later is the largest trade association for the cosmetic industry. The idea be