Gender discrimination is rampant in everyday life in Iran, and it is reflected in the Iranian regime’s wage legislation as well. Without access to government assistance, women working in unofficial workshops are compelled to accept extremely low wages or risk losing their jobs. They are obliged to accept substantially lower earnings than men in identical circumstances, which is a violation of the universally acknowledged principle of ‘equal work – equal pay.’This predicament is exacerbated for women who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. They must accept double exploitation by not being able to fight for their rights in any of the regime’s courts because the regime’s laws fail to safeguard and execute women’s rights.

Members of the Voice of Iranian Women Association are facing increasing pressure from the regime’s judiciary and intelligence agencies, largely due to their participation in International Women’s Day gatherings earlier this year. They are facing a number of charges for their peaceful activism, including “promoting corruption and prostitution,” “formation of the Iranian Women Association,” “association and collusion against national security,” and “propaganda against the state.” The group’s members are currently either imprisoned and waiting in limbo or enduring escalating pressure from the regime’s judiciary and intelligence ministry.

Akram Nasirian and Nahid Shaqaqi

On September 4, 2019. Voice of Iranian Women Association members Akram Nasirian and Nahid Shaqaqi received summonses to report to the 2nd Branch

of the Prosecutor’s Office at Evin Prison on When they reported to the office on September 8th, they were informed that they bail had increased. Both women were freed after paying the higher bail bonds. The two women were arrested on April 2019 for giving speeches in Tehran on International Women’s Day and held for a month before being released on bail.

Mahboubeh Farahzadi

Retired teacher Mahboubeh Farahzadi, also a member of the Voice of Iranian Women Association, received a summons on September 3, 2019, to report to Prosecutor’s Office at Evin Prison. She was interrogated by regime agents for several hours there on September 8th.

Maryam Mohammadi

Another member of the Voice of Iranian Women Association, Maryam Mohammadi, is currently being held in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. She was arrested on July 8, 2019, in the city of Garmsar and placed in solitary confinement in Ward 209 in Evin Prison. Ward 209 is operated by the regime’s Intelligence Ministry. Political prisoners who are sent to this ward are interrogated and frequently tortured. After one month, Mohammadi was transferred to the Women’s Ward at Evin. Her currently legal status has not been determined.

Esrin Derkaleh

Voice of Iranian Women Association member Esrin Derkaleh has been detained in Ward 209 of Evin Prison for more than 40 days. She was arrested on July 28, 2019, in Garmsar. She was also targeted for giving a speech in Tehran on International Women’s Day. Derkaleh was born in 1983 and is the mother of an 18-year-old child. Her legal status has also not been determined.

Leila Hosseinzadeh

On September 11, 2019, the attorney for imprisoned student activist Leila Hosseinzadeh announced that the regime prosecutors have filed a new charge against his client.

Hosseinzadeh is a graduate student in Anthropology, a member of Voice of Iranian Women Association, and the Secretary of the Student Central Council at Tehran University. She was also part of the International Women’s Day gathering in Tehran this spring and is currently serving a 30-month sentence in Evin Prison. She was convicted of “association and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the state” on June 24, 2019, for participating in the peaceful rally for women’s rights. Hosseinzadeh will also be banned from leaving Iran for two years after the completion of her sentence

The new charge stems from her participation in a January 2019 birthday ceremony for another imprisoned student outside the Industrial Sharif University in Tehran.

Condemnation from the MEK

Maryam Rajavi accompanied by lawmakers, dignitaries and women rights activists in Conference “Iran Uprising and The Role of Women”- Paris – February 17, 2018#WomenForce4Change #Iran pic.twitter.com/kpNys2qtCj

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 17, 2018

The Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) strongly condemns the oppression of women under the misogynistic regime. The MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) are committed to ending the twisted laws that silence women and force them into submission. The Iranian Resistance has women at the highest levels of leadership, with Mrs. Maryam Rajavi as its leader, because it recognizes that as the primary victims of the regime’s oppression, women are its strongest opponents.

Staff Writer

 

The Iranian regime engulfed in deep crisis due to the growing protests led by MEK and strikes across the country and the dying economy has stepped up its persecution of Iranian women this July, with four women being executed in the matter of a week. Based on the July Monthly report of the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, this unprecedented act by a regime, that continues to infringe on the basic human rights that should be afforded to its’ people, marks the brutish and callous nature of a judiciary that is intent on silencing any opposition to its rule.

Pls read @WomenNCRI's Monthly Report – July 2019 on the situation of Women in #Iran

Beset by a whole host of economic, social and political crises, the clerical regime has been trying to rein in simmering social discontent by use of brute force.https://t.co/Pf4crh94Wz

— NCRIWomen'sCommittee (@womenncri) August 4, 2019

Based on reports from MEK sources inside Iran, during the course of July, more than 100 women have been wrongfully imprisoned, tortured and abused for little more than protesting against the oppressive conditions that have been imposed on Iranian society at large, and women specifically.

All the more concerning is the breach of the separation of the prisoners’ principle wherein political prisoners are not only unfairly sentenced but are also imprisoned with the rest of the criminal population held in prison. With the misogynist Iranian regime refusing women the right to divorce and removing themselves from abusive relationships they have forced them into the limited alternatives of murder or suicide. A letter supporting this assertion, which was written by former political prisoner Golrokh Iraee and published on 27 July 2019 details how due to the “years of being humiliated, insulted, battered and even tortured” domestically and “because of being deprived of their right to divorce” they were driven to commit suicide, despite this, “they are convinced that if any of their repeated appeals for divorce had been granted, they would not have committed such suicide”, explains the Women’s committee’s report.

Execution of women and the heavy hand of the unjust judiciary

During the 6 years of Rouhani’s tenure, a record-breaking 93 women have been executed making it the deadliest regime for women worldwide.

Maliheh Salehian, Zahra Safari Moghaddam, Arasteh Ranjbar and Nazdar Vatankhah were the four women that lost their lives during this outrageous week of violent executions. These executions were an act of intimidation to prevent the public’s uprisings.

Many women who have been apprehended and tried for political ‘crimes’ are given inexcusably long sentences. Female activists, Golrokh Iraee and Atena Daemi have both been sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for disseminating “propaganda against the state” by sending open letters out of prison, and to 2 years and 1 month for “insulting the leader (Ali Khamenei).”

A young student activist, Sepideh Farhan (Farahabadi), was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 74 lashes by Branch 36 of Tehran’s Court of Appeal for participating in student protests in January 2018.

Yasaman Aryani, Monireh Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavar were collectively sentenced to 55 years and 6 months in prison. The charges leveled against these women included, “association and collusion against national security, disseminating propaganda against the state and encouraging and preparing the grounds for corruption and prostitution” among others.

There have been more than a 100 new arrests in July, and it seems the Iranian regime is set to ramp up its prosecution and imprisonment of women. Of the women arrested this month, many were charged with flouting the mandatory veil laws and breaching the rules of “Chastity and Hijab”. More detail is included in the July report.

Brutality and victimization of political prisoners

It should come as no surprise that prisoners are ill-treated and battered within the Iranian regime’s prison system but the extent of abuses is unrivaled. Many women are forced to make confessions during violent interrogations, while others are beaten into submission by guards. Many of these women are refused medical care for the physical damage caused to their persons during these violent encounters.

Yasaman Aryani and Atefeh Rangriz were among the women who were beaten by other prisoners, who had been incited by prison guards to carry out the attack. Yasaman Aryani was left with multiple injuries while Atefeh Rangriz, who suffers from asthma, had to be taken to the dispensary due to her critical condition.

The toll oppression and poverty has taken on mental health

Nazanin Zaghari, another political prisoner who came to visit her family in Iran 3 years ago was recently transferred to the psychiatric ward from Evin Prison. Commenting that she was “healthy and happy” when she arrived but now hates the toll “being played in the middle of a political game” has had on her mental health and personal freedom.

Sanaz Allahyari and her husband, both prisoners of the Iranian regime, have resorted to a hunger strike in protest against the Iranian dictatorship. According to a statement released by Amnesty International on July 3rd, “Sanaz Alahyari has been suffering from recurrent stomach pains, weight loss, and severe shaking in her hands and legs for at least two months, and urgently requires medical treatment.”

 

The continued oppression and subjugation of women has led those not imprisoned but still shackled by extreme poverty, created by the regime, to resort to suicide. At least 15 women committed suicide in July as a method to escape abject poverty. Reports have confirmed a shocking case in Yazd, where a woman and her two young daughters set themselves on fire on July 28, 2019.

Continuing the fight for basic human rights

Recognizing the price all these women have paid and continue to pay in their fight to bring justice and democracy to Iran may feel sadly empty. Especially, as we see the regime tightening its fist of domination and cruelty around the Iranian people. It is because of this commitment to ensuring basic human rights for all the people of Iran that it is important that we shed light on what these women are enduring. It should be publicly known and acknowledged what the Iranian regime continues to do to its own people.

For more details on the unjust and unfair mistreatment of women in Iran, you can read the monthly report here.

On October 26, 2018, Iranian state news reported that the regime had executed the 88^th woman under President Hassan Rouhani. The woman, identified only as Soudabeh, had been imprisoned for 12 years after standing accused of murder. It is still unclear where the execution took place.

The execution came just a few weeks after the UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet criticized the regime for the high volume of executions. Bachelet reiterated that the UN opposes executions in all circumstances. It reminded the regime that no jury in the world is immune from making mistakes.

We rely on the Iranian Resistance and uprising to bring about change in Iran. We reject any foreign intervention. But we urge other governments, particularly in Europe, to condition their relations with the Iranian regime on end to torture and executions.#FreeIran#Iran pic.twitter.com/rVk1xBYMAI

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 19, 2018

Women Facing the Death Penalty

Across Iran, dozens of women are on death row. Many are accused of political crimes, including for supporting opposition group the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK).

Others are facing charges for murder in self-defense or during episodes of domestic violence. Under the extreme laws of the Iranian regime, in cases of murder carried out for self-defense, the victim must face charges and retribution for the killing.

Obligation on #women clothing – suppression & execution are all aspects of absurdity of so called moderation of Rohani#No2rouhani#Iran

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) November 9, 2015

Eight women are on death row in Iran’s infamous Urmia Grand Central Prison. Their names are:

1. Chenar Salehi,
2. Yasna Sadeqi,
3. Arasteh Ranjbar,
4. Nazdar Vatankhah,
5. Tahmineh Danesh,
6. Farideh Hassanpour,
7. Shelir Khosravi,
8. Somayeh Ebrahimzadeh.

A further eleven women face the death penalty in Varamin’s Qarchak Prison. Their names and charges are as follows:

Azam Maleki has been detained for eight years, charged with the murder of her brother-in-law and nephew-in-law.

Narjes Tabaii has been detained for three years, charged with the murder of her husband’s second wife.

Fereshteh Shirazi has been imprisoned for five years, charged with the murder of her mother-in-law (the victim was the sister of Assadollah Lajevardi, the infamous warden at Evin Prison known as ‘the Butcher’).

Tahereh Noori has been detained for 12 years, charged with the murder of her husband.

Roya Amirian has been detained for 14 years after allegedly murdering a man harassing her in the street.

Mahtab Shafii has been detained for three years, charged with her husband and mother-in-law’s murders.

Mahboubeh Rasoul, has been detained for seven years, charged with the alleged killing of her mother-in-law.

Mahnaz Agahi, has been imprisoned for seven years, charged with murdering her husband.

Soghra Eftekhari, has been imprisoned for ten years, charged with murder during a conflict.

Eshrat Nazari, has been imprisoned for six years for allegedly killing her husband; Samira Sabziyan.

Misogyny has been enshrined and institutionalized in the regime’s laws. Many other countries, even those with capital punishment laws, protect women from receiving the death penalty when they are acting in self-defense against an abusive family member. However, the Iranian regime affords the victims no such protection.

The names of these women in Qarchak should be a beacon for human rights groups around the world. They illustrate inhumane and unjust laws employed by the Iranian regime and highlight the growing need for penal reform and the abolishment of the death penalty across Iran.

Staff writer

On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, Struan Stevenson, a former member of the European Parliament (MEP) and frequent Iran commentator wrote his latest piece for UPI. His op-ed called on women in the West to lend their support to Iranian women in their fight to break free from the repressive policies of the Iranian regime.

My new article in @UPI on repression of #women in #Iran under the mullahs
Good news: The opposition is headed by a charismatic female leader @Maryam_Rajavi
"Western women must show solidarity with repressed '#Iranian sisters"#MEK #humanrightshttps://t.co/FOZLmgUNxt

— STRUAN (@STRUANSTEVENSON) February 26, 2019

Stevenson calls Iranian women, “among the most repressed in the world, ruled by a regime dominated by elderly, bearded misogynists.”

For this reason, Iranian women have played a central role in the Iranian opposition movement. They have been central figures in the protest movement that has swept across all 31 of Iran’s provinces. “Female teachers, medical staff, students, factory workers, and pensioners have taken to the streets to demand an end to corruption, and an end to discrimination and repression and an end to the clerical regime’s aggressive military adventurism across the Missile East,” Stevenson writes.

Leading Figures in the Calls for Regime Change

The largest voices in the calls for Iranian regime change come from the most influential and popular opposition group, the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK). Within the MEK, many of the senior leadership is made up of women. Its leader, the president-elect Maryam Rajavi, is also female and is held in high esteem by political figures from around the world.

Women, in particular, have been mobilized by the regime’s repressive policies and discriminatory practices towards women. Stevenson describes some of these laws, “in Iran, women are considered the property of their closest male relative and have no legal rights. Girls of 9 can be married off by their parents.”

In the Iranian legal system, evidence provided by a woman is worth half that provided by a man. As a result, women cannot charge a man with rape unless they have four credible witnesses, a near impossibly high standard.

A Violent and Aggressive Brand of Fundamentalism

Prior to the 1979 revolution that brought the mullahs and their regime to power, Khomeini criticized the Shah’s permissive attitude towards women voting. He cited an extremist interpretation of Islamic teaching and called gender equality a “defiance of some of the explicit commandments of the Qoran.”

Following the revolution, as expected, Khomeini retracted many women’s rights. The regime prevents females riding bicycles, forces them to wear the hijab, and scrutinized the way they dress.

Under the clerical regime, gender violence has drastically increased. Stevenson says, “girls who were deemed to be improperly dressed in the street have suffered horrific acid attacks and stabbings, in assaults openly condoned by the mullahs.” Even something as innocuous as dancing or singing on social media can be enough to get a girl flogged or fined.

Women Around the World Should Stand with Iran’s Women

In a public statement, the former first lady of Algeria, Anissa Boumediene pledged her support to Maryam Rajavi and the MEK. The statement read, “yes, we stand with you Maryam, as we stand with all our Iranian sisters in your fierce fight seeking to free Iranian women from what enchains and imprisons them.”

@STRUANSTEVENSON :"My new article in @UPI on repression of #women in #Iran under the mullahs.Good news: The opposition is headed by a charismatic female leader @Maryam_Rajavi."Western women must show solidarity with repressed '#Iranian sisters"#MEK #HumanRights " @GlobalCRL

— Giulio Terzi (@GiulioTerzi) February 26, 2019

Stevenson concludes, “her words should resonate in the West, where female politicians and activists must show solidarity with their oppressed and brutalized Iranian sisters.” They can do this by pledging support to Maryam Rajavi and the MEK, who are fighting tirelessly for freedom, gender equality, and democratic secularism for Iran to give the nation’s daughters a brighter future.

Staff Writer