Women's Rights in Iran

People of 2008 Finalist: 1 Million Signatures Campaign for Women's Rights in Iran
December 5, 2008
Jeffrey Allen, OneWorld US

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Nominated by: OneWorld editors

WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (OneWorld) - An independent grassroots movement of Iranian women and men is educating women about their fundamental human rights and steadily becoming a powerful force for women's equality in the patriarchal country.

Members of the 1 Million Signatures Campaign greet Raheleh Asgarizadeh and Nasim Khosravi as they are released from Evin Prison in February 2008. © Change for Equality CampaignThe 1 Million Signatures Campaign, also known as Change for Equality, is demanding that all discriminatory laws against women be reformed. But rather than taking their demands straight to Iran's entrenched conservative leaders, the group has built a network of over 1,000 face-to-face educators in at least 15 of the country's provinces. They contact women where women usually gather -- shops, schools, offices, hair salons, or their homes.

The campaigners ask the women to sign the petition, which calls for equal rights for women in marriage, equal rights to divorce for women, an end to polygamy and temporary marriage, an increase of the age of criminal responsibility to 18 for both girls and boys, the right for women to pass on nationality to their children, equal compensation for bodily injury or death, equal inheritance rights, reform of laws that reduce punishment for offenders in cases of honor killings, and equal testimony rights for men and women in court.

Whether the women sign the petition or not, they receive a booklet explaining how the Iranian legal system denies women full rights. Thus, even the women who do not sign are informed about their rights, explains the Women's Learning Partnership, a U.S.-based human rights group that publicizes the work of the Campaign.

The strength of the 1 Million Signatures Campaign was most clearly seen in the response it provoked from the country's security forces this year. Dozens of activists were arrested, detained, or otherwise intimidated. In May, the first man was arrested for his efforts to support the Campaign.

And in October, the arrest of Iranian American graduate student Esha Momeni brought worldwide attention to the group's work. Momeni, a campaign member living in California, was in Tehran working on a documentary film about women's rights in the country that was to become her graduate thesis.

The group's Web site has been regularly blocked or filtered. The media has been warned not to cover the group's activities, according to Sussan Tahmasebi, a member of the Campaign whose passport was revoked earlier this year. Other campaigners have had their their houses searched, and one was even denied entrance to university.

All this in response to a loose-knit group of peaceful activists who go out of their way not to break any laws.

"Given the breadth of the institutional opposition arrayed against them, the Change for Equality Petition Drive is especially clever," wrote the New York Times in a 2007 editorial about the Campaign. "Rather than directly confronting the system, it goes around it. Even women who don't sign the petition will be better informed about their second-class status. The hope is that they will then be less likely to accept injustice indefinitely. And if Iran's women start questioning their lack of rights, perhaps Iran's men will have the courage to speak out, too."

From its outset in 2006, the Campaign organizers, who include the Nobel Peace Prize winning lawyer Shirin Ebadi, have been extremely careful to ensure their group is entirely locally funded and organized. During this time of heated geopolitical rhetoric between Iran and the West, they want to make sure that no one can say their demands have been sponsored or orchestrated by any foreign power.

"For those of us starting this effort, and for those who joined subsequently, the issue of independence was the most important issue," says Tahmasebi. "We knew that if we were to be successful in reaching the grassroots and the Iranian population and establishing relationships based on trust, there should be no question about our independence."

The Campaign is funded by individual donations from its members and supporters, and through the contributions of time and non-monetary support of its members. Campaign meetings and events are often held in the homes of members, who cover costs out of their own pockets. Campaigners who travel to conduct training workshops or connect with members in other cities pay for travel costs themselves, and stay in the homes of friends and family or other Campaign activists.

It's too early to tell if the Campaign will succeed in bringing about the change it seeks in the Iranian legal system, but there can be no doubt that the group has managed to build a powerful movement within a strict political system. And regardless of its local success, that can have important implications for others facing oppression around the world.

"While the Campaign is focused on the common demand of women for equal rights," says Tahmasebi, "we do feel that this new and peaceful approach, which does not utilize antagonistic means, will hold lessons for all citizens who wish to have their voices heard by their government and their representatives in Parliament."

* This story profiles one of ten finalists for OneWorld.net's People of 2008 award. Vote for your favorite, read more profiles, or tell us about other amazing people on OneWorld's People of 2008 page