Change for Women in Iran Will Come From the Resistance

NCRI – On International Women’s Day 2018, Iran remains one of the worst countries on earth to be a woman, from its sexist laws to its misogynist leaders.

This can be seen in the ongoing anti-regime protest movement, which is largely led by women, and rallied against the unfair systems put in place by the mullahs, especially those that treat women as second-class citizens.
What are the problems facing women in Iran? Well, this is by no means an extensive list but it includes:

Employment

Despite women outnumbering men in terms of college degrees, the Iranian Regime makes it hard for women to get- and keep- a job, according to Human Rights Watch.

They pass laws to restrict the type of jobs women can do, allow employers to discriminate against female candidates and employees, allow a husband to have the final say on his wife’s employment. On top of that, they failed to put in place laws to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace. All of this leads to fewer women in the workplace.

In 2017, Human Rights Watch wrote in a report: “This significant participation gap in the Iranian labour market has occurred in a context in which Iranian authorities have extensively violated women’s economic and social rights”.

Clothing

The “Daughters of Revolution Street” is a group of women opposing the mandatory hijab laws in Iran and demanding the option to dress as they please in public, even placing their headscarves on sticks as a sign of defence.

Many were arrested and some were beaten by agents of the Regime. Now they are facing up to 10 years in jail.

The mullahs introduced these hijab laws in 1979.

Entertainment

As FIFA President Gianni Infantino attended the World Cup qualifier in Iran last week, 35 women were arrested for trying to enter the stadium in violation of the Regime’s laws against women watching men’s sporting matches.

While Infantino later said that President Hassan Rouhani planned to lift this ban, it’s worth noting that Rouhani helped to institute the hijab laws and has failed to help women during his reign so far, so why should we expect this to change.

Indeed, if we want change in Iran, we must turn from the Regime to the Resistance.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) transformed itself in 1989 and put women in leadership positions, even whilst on the run from the Iranian Regime, because it was the right thing to do.

This change was led by Maryam Rajavi, later elected president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), who maintained that both men and women had to lead the Resistance and bring freedom to Iran.

At a recent conference to mark International Women’s Day, Rajavi spoke of how the Regime uses a bastardised version of Islam to suppress women, when no such directive is in the Quran.

Reza Shafiee, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI, wrote on Al Arabiya: “The Iranian women have been deprived of their rights twice as much as men. It makes perfect sense for them to take the lead in bringing down the regime.”