For Iranian women in sports, overcoming social stigma is as much a part of the game as any technique to be mastered.
Tag: Iran
The Election of Ebrahim Raisi in Iran Threatens to Undo Decades of Feminist Organizing
With an unfair election selection and a conservative candidate as the winner, feminist and human rights groups in Iran are spreading their message and preparing to fight back.
On June 13, the Whole World Should Be Watching Iran, Demanding Justice and Calling to #FreeNahid and #FreeThemAll
“Propaganda against the state.” That’s one of the most frequent charges in politically motivated imprisonments in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Translated, it means “Thinking is forbidden and talking about your thoughts is a crime.”
My mother’s case burst my bubble and woke me up: Her case was not an exception, but a fate shared by hundreds if not thousands.
“Unbearable”: Reza Khandan, Husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, on the Ground in Iran’s Qarchak Prison
“My wife Nasrin Sotoudeh has been unjustly and cruelly imprisoned since June 2018 for her legal work representing Iranian human rights and women’s rights activists. … I call on the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation into all of Iran’s prisons, and for Qarchak women’s prison to be immediately closed. The dignity, health and safety of women, children and families everywhere demands no less.”
The Ms. Q&A: Activist and Artist Parastou Forouhar Is Fighting for the “Iran That Could Have Been”
Artist and activist Parastou Forouhar was born and raised in Iran, but in 1991, under threat of persecution due to her family’s dissident views and her status as an artist and woman, she left Iran. But she continues to speak out for what she calls the “democratic cohort” in Iran—”so that the regime in Iran knows that these people are not alone. They are heard, they are supported.”
Ms. and PEN America Present: ‘Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Mandela of Iran’ [Monday, Dec. 21 at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET]
Join Ms. and PEN America for a special online conversation Monday, December 21 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT. with Margaret Atwood; Nicholas Kristof; Nasrin’s husband, Reza Khandan; PEN America’s Karin Deutsch Karlekar; human rights advocate Kerry Kennedy; Iranian artist and activist Parastou Forouhar; and Nasrin filmmakers Jeff Kaufman and Marcia Ross.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iranian Women’s Rights Attorney, Freed from Prison After Two Years
In a huge victory, Iranian women’s rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh—jailed two years ago on bogus spying and propaganda charges—has been temporarily released from Qarchak prison on medical leave.
Sotoudeh’s release is due in large part to international pressure from the tireless efforts of activists and human rights groups.
Immigrants Finding Themselves within America and America In Them
Mahsa Khanbabai, an Iranian American and an immigration lawyer, shares her thoughts on advocating for a more fair and just America.
She writes, “Immigration attorneys and advocates will continue to demand change not only in a court of law, but in the court of public opinion. It’s vital to empower those without voices, as well as to advocate for change with our neighbors, our broader community and with our elected officials. It’s bigger than a single political movement—it’s about education and dialogue. “
Leading Iranian Activist and Feminist: How I Became a Women’s Rights Activist
“Now, in the corner of this all, here I am as an olive-skinned, middle-aged activist in diaspora trying to inspire the transnational feminism to have more solidarity and to prevent together women from being turned and wrapped in the storming winds of violence, autocracy and militarism—in the Eastern and the Western states.”
Celebrating Iranian Feminism and Feminists: Nevertheless, They Persist
While the women’s wing of Evin prison continues to fill up with feminist activists such as Saba Kord Afshari, journalists like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratfliffe and lawyers like Sotoudeh, feminists refuse to back down. They fight overtly, refusing to be silenced. Many of the feminists in Iran talk about experiencing a “triple bind”: simultaneously fighting the state, their religions and themselves—all as informed by patriarchy.