A Strategy of Slow Steps

Thirty years after the Islamic revolution in Iran, the situation has improved for women, but there are still major shortcomings. This is clearly illustrated by the case of the Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner and lawyer Shirin Ebadi, who herself has come under pressure from the authorities. Katajun Amirpur reports

Iranian woman in front of a picture of Khomeini (photo: Abedin Taherkenareh/dpa) — Even 30 years after the Islamic revolution, the judiciary and the Council of Guardians still keep a close eye on the women's rights movement and attempt to hamper its initiatives wherever they can

It was a hard blow for the women's rights movement in Iran: last December, the advisory centre run by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi was searched by police in Tehran and then shut. Computers and documents were seized.

A party commemorating the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights was scheduled to be held on the premises of her "Centre for the Defence of Human Rights". The official statement issued by the authorities says that the centre is instigating "propaganda against the system".

Ostensible arguments

But the real reason is different. Ebadi's advisory centre had been passing facts about human rights violations in Iran to the United Nations. This information subsequently appeared in the UN resolution against Iran.

Ebadi is now filing a lawsuit against the forced closure of her office in Tehran. In addition, she has protested against the "violation of rights" in a letter to Chief Justice Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Sharudi.

For several years Shirin Ebadi has dedicated her work to fighting for women's rights in her country. For her achievements she became the first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Ebadi used the prize money to found the advisory centre for human rights. Work at the centre includes helping to raise awareness among women.

"Such awareness does not develop overnight," says Ebadi. "It's a long process. Women's voices in Iranian society are heard more today than they were 30 years ago. And now there are many good books and magazines that focus on the situation of women, written out of protest against the inequality of man and woman. These books are now being hotly debated."

Shirin Ebadi strongly believes that the problems faced by women in Iran are rooted first and foremost in the legal system: "We have laws that establish unequal rights between man and woman. For instance, a man can marry several women. He can divorce a wife without her consent. After the divorce the man gets custody of the children, not the woman. These are all legal discriminations."

The "One Million Signature Campaign"

In the summer of 2006 Shirin Ebadi started a campaign for women's rights in Iran with the goal of collecting one million signatures. This is the prerequisite for presenting the Iranian Parliament with a legislative initiative. Since the start of the campaign two years ago, 43 female activists have received summons; 10 of them have been sent to prison.

But the women's rights activists can also point to some successes. One particular legislative proposal caused public outrage in Iran for about a year. The proposed law stipulated that men no longer needed the permission of the first wife to marry a second wife.

After heavy protests, the legislative initiative was finally withdrawn. This was a hard-fought success that shows that the female activists can indeed have some effect against the conservative establishment, declares Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi.

The 61-year-old refuses to be intimidated by the current wave of repressive acts. She has already endured and suffered more than this – solitary confinement in the notorious Tehran Evin prison, for example.

Nevertheless, Shirin Ebadi has no plans to leave Iran. She is too aware of her importance for Iranian women and the human rights movement.

Katajun Amirpur

Katajun Amirpur is an Islam scholar and journalist. She is the author of several books on Iran and Islam.

Translated from the German by Nancy Joyce

Qantara.de

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