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Home » ADVOCACY & NETWORKING » Human Rights Alerts

Support Iranian Women: Join the “One Million Signatures” Campaign

Iranian parliament submits new legislation attempting to push back current family laws; in response Iranian women's rights activists take action

September 20, 2007

SUPPORT IRANIAN WOMEN
Sign the "One Million Signatures" campaign petition calling for an end to discriminatory laws against women such as men's uncontested right to divorce, polygamy, and child custody.

The Iranian parliament has submitted legislation attempting to push back current family laws, reversing the few rights that exist for women. We are very concerned about this new development. Please see the article below for information on how Iranian women's activists are taking action to prevent this bill from becoming law.

In addition, the "One Million Signatures" campaign Persian website was filtered for the seventh time. The new address of the site is:

Persian: www.we4change.info
English: www.weforchange.info/english

Over 2000 Equal Rights Defenders Object to Proposed "Family Support" Legislation: In a statement issued today, 2000 equal rights defenders have objected to the Family Support Legislation submitted to parliament by the executive branch, earlier this month. The statement asserts that while lawmakers have claimed that the Family Support Legislation intends to address shortcomings in the law and bring it up to date in accordance with the needs and realities of today’s family, it has in fact pushed back family legislation and the status of women by 42 years.

The statement reads: "at a time when Iranian society, more than ever before, insists on the adoption of just and humane laws, and while equal rights defenders are working collectively in the form of efforts such as the One Million Signatures Campaign, to change existing discriminatory and unequal laws, such as blood money, inheritance, and testimony and are seeking equality for women in their rights to divorce, child custody, nationality, travel abroad, and are demanding an abolishment of polygamy, not only does this proposed legislation not adhere to these demands, but reverses existing rights from women. This legislation has not only in its totality disregarded the dignity and humanity of women, but in Article 23 it proposes to eliminate a women’s say in her husbands right to take on a second wife, a right currently accorded to women by law. The proposed legislation in Article 23 shifts the final decision in cases of polygamy to a court and bases that decision at the discretion of the judge. The only requirement which men must meet in taking on multiple wives, based on this new legislation is financial and based on their ability to support more than one family. The condition of "justice", in cases of polygamy is also subject to the discretion of the court." The statement goes further to question how the court is to verify and prove that justice can actually be adhered to by a polygamous man, when the consecutive marriage is yet to take place and when no evidence of just or unjust treatment of wives can be proved.

The statement also claims that this legislation should aptly be named as the Male Support Legislation, instead of its current name, as in all its provisions it does nothing but seek to destabilize the family unit and promote desires on the part of some men to do as they see fit, without regard to how their actions impact their wives, families and others.

The statement also criticizes several other provisions in this proposed legislation, including a provision in article 25 which calls for the Ministry of Finance to specify a ceiling for dowry rates that must be adhered to by women entering into marriage. This article imposes a tax on dowries which exceed this official amount. The statement criticized this proposed provision, by claiming that "while women still have no rights to divorce and can no longer even object to their husband taking on a second wife, you are asking new wives to pay a tax to the government on a dowry which they may not have even collected or may never collect." The statement also condemns a provision in Article 2, which calls for the presence of three judges in family court and has not required these judges to be female, but rather states female judges should be present only if possible. The statement criticizes this provision on the basis that it does not provide a friendly environment for women to air their grievances, giving them a distinct disadvantage in family court. Further, the statement criticizes article 22 of this proposed legislation, which states that the official registration of temporary marriage or Sigheh is no longer necessary and postpones regulation of temporary marriage to a directive to be issued in the future by the Minister of Justice. The statement in this regard reads: "we don’t yet know what this directive will entail, but surely until its issuance we will be witness to increased numbers of women, who cannot legally prove that they have a husband and we will be witness to the birth and suffering of children resulting from temporary marriage, who will not be allowed to obtain birth certificates."

The statement goes on to claim that "unfortunately under the current legal system in our country, the human unit is a male unit, and women’s human and legal rights are assessed at half of men’s. These discriminatory laws have cast a shadow on our society and impact negatively women from different ethnic and religious groups, creating crisis and disrupting the foundation of family life, especially for women from lower socio-economic sectors. Despite all this, government officials instead of offering logical and just solutions for the improvement of the status quo, have proposed legislation which is inhumane in its treatment of women and offers men with power and the financial means to do so, the opportunity to take advantage of these inhumane practices….As if the current law, allowing for polygamy which is in and of itself humiliating for women, was not enough, government officials have decided to take up the task of making the situation worse for women. The news about this proposed legislation was indeed alarming and frightening for the public and especially for families, forcing all Iranian equal rights defenders to take a stand and to object."

In its final paragraph the statement boldly calls for the unconditional reversal of all discriminatory laws especially laws which allow for polygamy and temporary marriage. "We announce that should the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) not remove this proposed legislation from its agenda, we will be forced to employ more serious measures. Should this proposed legislation be introduced to the full parliament, without doubt we will make voice our demands for justice and our MPs will not get through the day, without our presence in [in the form of public protest] in front of the Parliament."

Earlier in the week a seminar was held by the public relations committee of the One Million Signatures Campaign to analyze the proposed Family Support legislation. Analysis was provided from a legal, social and psychological perspective. The speakers included, Ms. Farideh Gheyrat, lawyer, Ms. Nasrin Sotoodeh, lawyer, Dr. Shahla Ezazi, Sociologist and Dr. Shiva Dolatabadi, Psychologist, with panel chairs, Zohreh Arzani, lawyer, and Shahla Entesari, Social Worker. Without exception, all presenters found the proposed legislation and the practice of polygamy in particular as extremely damaging for families and for women. A special guest speaker also shared with participants her story and discussed the emotional and financial devastation she experienced when on her thirtieth anniversary she discovered that her husband had taken on a second wife 10 years earlier. This statement objecting to the proposed Family Support legislation was first read at this seminar. A report of this seminar will be translated and made available on this site in the future.

September 2, 2007

Our Iranian colleagues have asked us to circulate this news item. We hope that Ms. Arbour’s meeting with women’s rights defenders will result in an easing of the pressure placed on activists by the Iranian regime.

UN High Commissioner On Human Rights to Meet with Iranian Women's Rights Activists

Change for Equality: Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, will be in Tehran September 2-4 to attend the Non-Aligned Conference which will be held on September 2-3 at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During her stay in Iran, Ms. Arbour will also meet with women and human rights defenders, in an effort to investigate increased pressures on these sectors. The meeting with women's rights defenders will be held at the UN headquarters in Iran. The meeting with women human rights defenders, follows a letter by the Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi in July who wrote to the Honorable Ms. Louise Arbour, the High Commissioner on Human Rights requesting a delegation visit to Iran to investigate the status of women's rights defenders.

Iranian women's rights defenders have come under increased pressure, as they have stepped up efforts to reform laws that discriminate against women. Activists involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign, which is a peaceful and civil effort intended to collect signatures asking the Parliament to reform laws which discriminate against women, have faced consistent pressure in the past year, since the launch of the Campaign. Recently two members of the Campaign, Fatemeh Dehdashti and Nasim Sarabandi were issued 6 month jail terms for collecting signatures and Amir Yaghoubali the most recent member of the Campaign to be arrested for collection of signatures, spent nearly one month in solitary confinement in the Security branch of Evin Prison, Ward 209. In all 13 members of the Campaign have been arrested in relation to their activities in this peaceful effort and for collecting signatures, most are facing security charges. Other forms of pressure, such as threats, phone tapping, interrogations, disruption of meetings, denial of meeting space, blocking of the their website, etc have worked to thwart the Campaign and its activists in their efforts to raise public awareness about the discriminatory nature of the law. Despite these pressures, the Campaign celebrated its first year anniversary on August 27, 2007, and the activists involved in the Campaign are continuing with their work.

Prior to the launch of the Campaign, authorities violently broke up several public protests held by women's rights activists. On June 12, 2006, a public protest in Hafte Tir Square, marking the day of Solidarity of Iranian women, and in demand of equal rights for women, was violently broken up and nearly 70 persons arrested. In March of 2006 and 2007, again violence was used to break up peaceful protests by women, demanding equal rights and marking international women's day. Women's rights activists have brought up charges against the police for use of violence with regards to all three protests, but these charges have not been addressed by the courts. In fact, with respect to the complaint brought against the police in use of violence in June 2006, police officers were found not guilty. The case is now in appeals court. The other two cases have yet to be taken up by the courts.

Women's rights activists, in meeting with Ms. Arbour, hope to be able to bring to light some of the pressures they have faced in recent years in their increased activism on behalf of women's rights. They hope that this meeting will impress upon the Iranian government that the activities of women's rights defenders are indeed peaceful and not intended to undermine "national security" a charge many of these women's rights activists are facing in court. Additionally, they hope that this meeting will bring to light for Iranian authorities the need to seriously and urgently review and reform laws that discriminate against women.

It should be noted that many of the women's rights defenders meeting with Ms. Arbour, had initially tried to meet with judiciary officials in an effort to protest the unfair and illegal treatment and the violation of their civil rights by the security ministries and security branch of the Revolutionary courts, but they were denied meeting time with Judiciary officials charged with reviewing violations of civil rights of citizens.

August 21, 2007

Below are highlights of recent articles by activists of the One Million Signatures Campaign. (Source: We for Change web site):

  • 6 August 2007
    A Campaign for Equality and Democratic Culture
    By Ali Akbar Mahdi
    The article examines how One Million Signatures campaign activists have organized around grievances affecting all women, regardless of their religious, ideological, ethnic, or social class backgrounds. It gives a contextual background of the campaign, suggests that the campaign offers an excellent exercise in a bottom-up model of democratic change, reviews the challenges of intimidation and suppression the campaign members have faced, and explores the road ahead for the campaign.
  • 6 August 2007
    In memory of Amir: In Prison, but Freer than Most of Us
    By Azad Roshani
    This fictional narrative is written as a response to the reactions of some people to the arrest of Amir Yaghoub Ali, one of the members of the campaign’s men’s committee. One of Amir’s relatives, who holds a post at the Revolutionary Court, told Amir’s friends: "If Amir had been charged with selling drugs, I could get him released in an hour, but…"
  • 31 July 2007
    I hear the Voice of Liberation
    By Maryam Hossein Khah
    The One Million Signatures campaign website spoke with Zina Modarresi, a young activist from the campaign in Sanandaj, Kurdistan about the style of the campaign’s activities and its progress in Sanandaj.
  • 29 July 2007
    Promotion of Equal Rights Discourse among Political Groups
    By Bahareh Hedayat
    This article is a transcript of a speech given at the campaign’s public meeting on May 16, 2007 by Bahareh Hedayat, a member of the campaign and one of the leaders of the student movement in Iran, who recently spent a month in solitary confinement. In this article, Hedayat explores her desire to see the campaign "expand to encompass many layers of society, from the grassroots extending out to reach to the mansions of the great powers."
  • 28 July 2007
    The Demand for Changing of Discriminatory Laws Penetrates Official Discussions
    As the official Iranian Women’s Day was approaching this year, discussions about women’s issues had a somewhat different feel and tone from previous years. “Laws pertaining to women need to be reevaluated” was a sentence that was included in speeches, interviews, and statements issued by some public officials on the occasion of Women’s Day, indicating that the executive and legislative bodies are increasingly bringing up these issues for discussion.
  • 25 July 2007
    What Defines the Campaign is its Statement, Not the People who Collect Signatures!
    By Somaiyeh Farid
    The article examines the horizontal process of decision-making in the campaign, which is a social movement working toward achieving a clear and specific goal rather than a campaign launched by a particular individual. In fact, no individual holds an official position in the campaign.
  • 22 July 2007
    Second Court Ruling in Favor of Equal Blood Money of Men and Women Issued
    This article examines the significance of one of the rare court cases in which the blood money of women has been counted as equal - and not half of - the blood money of men. This case occurred when contaminated blood caused HIV among 171 female hemophiliac patients. Equal blood money is one of the demands of the campaign.
  • 20 July 2007
    Interesting Reactions to the Campaign
    By Amir Yaghoub-Ali
    An active member of the campaign’s men’s committee, who recently spent a month in prison because of his work for the campaign, writes about his first encounters collecting signatures among fellow students.
  • 12 July 2007
    Collection of Signatures is not a Crime
    In response to the arrest of two members of the One Million Signatures campaign in April 2007, the campaign website conducted an interview with Farideh Gheirat, a lawyer and women’s rights defender, on the legality of arresting individuals for collecting signatures.
  • 6 July 2007
    Cultures Create Civil Laws: Being a Muslim Doesn’t Mean Living by Laws of 1400 Years Ago
    Taghi Rahmani, an independent journalist and activist, who received The Human Rights Watch Helmut-Hemet Award on March 7, 2005, addressed some of the demands of the campaign in an interview with the campaign’s website.

July 6, 2007

One Million Signatures Campaign Video and Recent Articles

One Million Signatures Campaign Video To view the One Million Signatures Campaign’s video, click here.

Harrassment of women's rights activists continues in Iran. Read the most recent updates on the sentencing of women's rights activists.

Below are highlights of recent articles by activists of the One Million Signatures Campaign. (Source: We for Change web site):

  • 3 July 2007
    Unexpected Sentence for Delaram Ali, Women’s Rights Defender
    One Million Signatures Campaign’s member sentenced to 2 years and 10 months jail term and 10 lashes for attending Tehran’s peaceful women’s rally in June 2006.
    • SUPPORT IRANIAN WOMEN
    Sign the "One Million Signatures" campaign petition calling for an end to discriminatory laws against women such as men's uncontested right to divorce, polygamy, and child custody.
  • 20 June 2007
    Equal Protection under the Law: Even when Women are at Fault
    By Jelveh Javaheri
    "The story of all those names in my neighborhood, Akram, Maryam, Zahra, all of those who loved to study but were forced by their fathers to marry men they didn’t know…"
  • 29 May 2007
    Women’s Movement into the Streets
    By Parvin Ardalan
    "Although the peaceful protest on June 12, 2006 was met with brute force and severe beatings it also had a sweet outcome in the end. We had learned from the experiences of Moroccan women not to limit our activities and objectives to organizing a short-term protest, but to plan long term."
  • 15 May 2007
    Women and the Subjugation of Structure: A Critique of the One Million Signatures Campaign
    By Mazdak Daneshvar and Rouzbeh Gorji-Bayani
    "It is possible to adopt an approach, which will add a crimson ribbon to the rainbow of colors within the women’s movement in Iran that separates revisionism from innovative thinking, endurance from opportunism, and flexibility from surrender. A red color that represents the sigh of an oppressed masses, without presuming and granting preference to any one ideology, or to lend its voice to the rhetoric of idealism or to get tangled up with the collective unconsciousness."
  • 13 May 2007
    Nobel Laureate Ebadi: New Form of Lawlessness Spreading in Iran
    Rooz Online’s Interview with Shirin Ebadi
    "The judiciary is doing everything it can to pressure these women as much as possible by ignoring existing rules and regulations, which are all aimed at preventing other women from demanding their rights. These practices prove the proverbial notion that when politics enters the court through a door, justice leaves it through a window."

June 25, 2007
Persian Campaign Website Filtered Once Again

We received news today that the "One Million Signatures" campaign Persian website was filtered for the sixth time. The new website is:

http://www.wechange.info/

The English campaign website remains the same at:

http://www.wechange.info/english/

It has been two months since the site was last blocked. Despite attempts by the authorities to cripple the website, 1,100 unique users visit the site every day.

If you experience problems with accessing the petitions, please email us your name, email, and message of support at wlp@learningpartnership.org and we will add your name to the petition.

A Call for Volunteer Translators

The “One Million Signatures” campaign is seeking volunteer Persian to English translators for the campaign website in order to assist them with sharing information with equal rights defenders and interested individuals around the world. Volunteers will be asked to translate 2 articles per month (about 4 pages). If you are interested in volunteering, please contact: forequality@gmail.com.

April 24, 2007 Update

The "One Million Signatures" Campaign websites had to be changed yet again. The new websites are:

If you experience problems with accessing the petitions, please email us your name, email, and message of support at wlp@learningpartnership.org and we will add your name to the petition.

Read updates on continuing harassment of campaign organizers.

For more on the campaign, see:

April 6, 2007 Update

The new websites for the "One Million Signatures" Campaign are:

If you are experiencing problems, please email us your name, email, and message of support at wlp@learningpartnership.org and we will ensure your name is added to the petition.

New articles on the campaign:

February 21, 2007 Update

For the third time in less than two weeks, the "One Million Signatures" Campaign website has been filtered for those accessing it from within Iran. If you are experiencing problems, please try www.weforchange.info (Persian website), www.weforchange.info (English website) or email we4change@yahoo.com to receive updates on unfiltered campaign websites or weblogs. You may also send us your name, email, and message of support at wlp@learningpartnership.org and we will ensure your name is added to the petition.

For further information, please read:

Thank you for your support,
Women's Learning Partnership

February 13, 2007

Iranian women’s rights activists are fighting gender apartheid through the “One Million Signatures” campaign, which demands an end to discriminatory laws against women. At present, men have the sole right to divorce and except in special cases, the right to custody of children. One man’s testimony equals that of two women. A man’s worth is twice that of a woman in cases of murder or bodily injury. A daughter receives half a son’s inheritance. And certain positions, such as that of a judge, are closed to women. The campaign aims to collect one million signatures in support of granting women equal legal status with men. It is a continuation of Iranian women’s century-long struggle for gender equality.

The two-year “One Million Signatures” campaign, a follow-up to the June 12, 2006 demonstration that was violently broken up by security forces, has devised a simple mobilization concept. Activists contact women where women usually gather – shops, schools, offices, hair salons, or their homes. They ask them to sign the petition, but whether they sign or not, they receive a booklet explaining how the Iranian legal system denies women full rights. Thus, even the women who do not sign the petition will be informed about their second-class status. 30,000 women have already signed.

The strength of the campaign rests on the bottom-up strategy, the interaction between activists and ordinary women, the peaceful and non-violent approach to legal reform, and on stressing the importance of each woman’s agency and choice. The dialogue and the learning help transform the political culture and provide the building blocks of a dynamic social justice movement.

The campaign creatively combines traditional door-to-door petitioning with modern technology: it collects signatures through the face-to-face method and also uses the internet to expand and expedite the process. It provides an opportunity for anyone interested in promoting gender justice to join. Please add your signature to the revolutionary One Million Signatures campaign. (Scroll to the end of this page http://www.we-change.org/spip.php?article19).

For further information, please read:

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