In Iran, a broad coalition is fighting against oppression of women by law. Their equality is due to decades moved "danger from the outside." An interview with Nahid Keshavarz Mahmoud Bersani
Nahid Keshavarz is a feminist and a member of the Cultural Center of the women in Tehran. She is co-initiator of a petition against the discrimination of women in Iranian law, which is supported by feminist organizations and personalities. Keshavarz itself on 4 March during a protest along with 34 other activists fixed - removed and after 48 hours on bail and is released-set (see jW of March 23).
A broad alliance feminist initiatives and personalities in Iran, among them Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, has launched a campaign to collect one million signatures for the abolition of legal discrimination between men and women. How women are discriminated against legally in Iran?
is the gender discrimination in both the civil and criminal legislation in the very large. So the woman loses her marriage a number of rights: freedom of choice of residence, freedom of travel, the right to leave the country even to exercise a profession outside the home. All this is dependent on the consent of the husband. The woman has to obey him. Men may have several wives and may, whenever they want to, distinguish. Conversely, a woman can only get a divorce if they can prove that she is treated badly, the man stays a living, is a drug addict or in jail.
Does the lack of rights of women in relation to her children?
Yes. By law, a mother can never exercise the financial custody of her child. Also on the residence of the child, whether it can leave the country, even on medical matters pertaining to their child may not decide the woman treffen.In Iran is a girl already at the age of criminal ninth year of age, a boy with top 15 If it commits an offense to which the death penalty, it can even be sentenced to death. Existing laws, according to the citizenship of Iranian women is not transmitted to their children. This will in particular women, difficulties that are married to Afghans so that their children are not considered Iranians and have therefore not automatically the right of residence.
women under Iranian law therefore "worth less?
Definitely. The claims by the woman are only half as high as that of men. An example: If the road a woman and a Husband have a car accident and as a result, both are paralyzed, the woman stands to inherit only half as much compensation as the man to twice as many sons as daughters. The wife inherits, if she has children, only one-eighth of the assets of her late husband. If the man had several wives, this eighth is divided among them. On land, women have absolutely no hereditary Ansprüche.Es a variety of other discrimination. For example, a man who caught his wife with another man, they kill without being prosecuted. Women are usually not allowed in court as witnesses and if so, then the testimony of two women as valuable as the testimony of a man.
How do these laws in practice on the lives of women?
We are second class citizens. Women are without legal protection. For the poorest, the most serious consequences, while women of the middle class here and there manage to get around the laws. An indication of the dire situation of many Iranian women is the high suicide rate. This is despite more than 60 percent of those who are admitted to a university education are women.
How is it that women in Iran, despite the massive discrimination in everyday life much more present and more confident than in other countries the region?
This has mainly historical reasons. Iranian women fight for 100 years for a change in their legal and social situation. With the women's movement in which was also a movement of intellectuals who advocated for modern ideas and equal social rights for all. In the recent Iranian history, many educated men were fighting in Iran to improve the situation of Frauen.Dabei engaged in the first half of the 20th Century, many more men than for women's rights during the Iranian revolution in February 1979. During this time the woman question was dismissed as a minor matter, their Treatment until after the victory of the "anti-imperialist revolution postponed". The revolution brought the Iranians no progress in the legal field, but even greater lawlessness. Nevertheless, the social upheavals in the wake of the revolution also led to changes in the lives of women. The cultural development of the Iranian society is still be in conflict with the legal situation. Although women are in the countries of the region also face multiple discrimination, is developing there - except perhaps in Turkey - no significant resistance. This is only against the background of historical and cultural differences between societies to understand these countries.
What are the objectives of the campaign?
Our greatest hope is to make the debate about equality between men and women on a broad basis. We want direct dialogue with women and men in public - to draw attention to the discrimination against women - in the streets, in buses, in the subway. In the petition and information material is distributed in the laws enshrined discrimination. Many women who sign our petition, will not remain passive, but themselves become activists in the campaign. With a million signatures, we can institutions the power to show that many women do and men to equality. No government can ignore the demands of the population over time.
who initiated the petition?
The idea came from members of Tehran's cultural center. You managed to turn it into a campaign supported by all groups of women come together in the different generations of Iranian women's movement. It is not centrally managed, but works as a network. The goals and requirements are clear. On this basis, each activist free hand to design their own work.
Fear not, against the background be appropriated to the ongoing U.S. threats against Iran for its purposes?
I am concerned like many other Iranian citizens and have a fear of a war. The way the two States, it is not in our interest. Unfortunately we have no say in this Spiel.In the past decades, our claims have been repeatedly ignored under the pretext of "threat from without," or because of other problems. However, we have no choice but to commit ourselves to change our situation. We need urgent assistance. We are looking but not in the Western states, but in women's and human rights organizations in other countries.
info: weforchange.net
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