Dictatorship: Men have the right to rape unveiled women

Persian2English - Iran’s dictatorship is reacting to a new social media campaign calling on women in Iran to submit photos of themselves displaying stealthy acts of freedom. Thousands of women in Iran have shared photos of themselves without the mandatory headscarf (I.e. hijab). The popular action has so far attracted more than 300 thousand users on Facebook and thousands of Twitter users tweeting under the hashtag #MyStealthyFreedom. The Facebook page was created by Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist living in exile in London, England.

Attempting to spread fear among Iranian civil society, *Tasnim, a state-run news agency in Iran controlled and operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), interviewed Hadi Sharifi, a “media activist” (I.e. Regime propaganda activist), who attempted to send the message to campaign supporters: stop, or else.

In the interview Sharifi accused Alinejad of being associated with the CIA and explained that those who have “liked” the campaign’s Facebook page did so to stay informed of the developments instead of being aligned or supportive of the cause. Sharifi said that if women feel it is their right to show off their beauty, or appear any which way they desire in society, or reveal their beauty to men, then they should also consider the right of men to enjoy women. He attempted to explain that because it is natural and instinctual for a man to be drawn to the beauty of a woman and seek sex with her, it is a man’s right to benefit from what he loves. Sharifi said that when a man forces himself onto a woman because she is “showing off her beauty”, this [should not] be considered rape.

Sharifi said since men have not granted women permission to show off their beauty, then men who become aroused by the “nakedness” of women do not need the permission of women to pursue their sexual urges.

*The current owner of Tasnim was the former editor in chief of Fars News Agency, a state-run media agency operated and controlled by the IRGC.