The Iranian women’s movement comes of age

From small cells to mass organisation, the Iranian women’s movement comes of age

A Shahrzad News special report from the annual Iranian Women’s Conference, Sorbonne University, Paris, 15 - 17 July 2010

Shahrzad News :In a speech about the evolution of the Iranian women’s movement, Faride Zebarjad, the Germany-based human rights activist and author of The Tremors and The Jail identified three periods of struggle under the Islamic regime, each with its own distinct characteristics.

1- From the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979 until 1984: This period was marked by a clampdown on women’s rights and activists. Civil rights and other achievements suffered a reversal.

2- From 1985-1989:During this period the forces of democracy were suppressed. The regime’s so-called ‘Islamic Women’s Model’ and their utopian slogans characterised their attitude to the female population.

3- From 1989-1999: After the war with Iraq and the death of Khomeini, repression diminished and Iranians began to rethink their national and religious identity. Independent women’s magazines surfaced, and a women’s affairs department was incorporated in the cabinet. Meanwhile women began to organise in secular groups.

Developing aims and an identity

Initially secular women’s groups had no specific identity. They might involve anything from ten to thirty people, gathering in members’ homes to discuss aims and organise activities. However many of the women who belonged to them had taken part in the revolution and were politically experienced. Some had been active in opposition groups and spent time behind bars for their anti-government stance. Nevertheless the outside world rarely took them seriously, their spouses laughing at the mention of the word feminism.

Gradually meetings that were originally merely an opportunity for women to share personal and matrimonial grievances became more serious. Women began to seek ways to defend and promote their rights, taking full advantage
of the legal, social, cultural and sports channels that were now open to them.

The more politically-minded among them started to educate the others about women’s rights, writing and translating articles for journals and feminist publications, and organising group readings and sports camps. Eventually they openly celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th and began to send representatives to international women’s conferences.

The at times disjointed but forceful efforts on the part of large numbers of women who were determined to pursue their human and civil rights eventually led to major changes in life and outlook. These achievements have put them in the vanguard of the present-day Iranian democracy movement.