By Jubin Katiraie
Declaring March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1977 by the United Nations was one of the most valuable achievements of human history. This great adoption showed the international community intended to pass away all discrimination based on instinctive abilities, which denied people achieved qualifications.
In this context, this day paved the way for men to flourish their talents for equal competition in different sectors.
Outdated thoughts, of course, insist on physical abilities rather than mental and phycological powers that have proven in many instances. However, many women have proven their phycological abilities in various sectors, including sport, tough physician works, etc.
In this respect, Iran’s misogynist government has employed unbelievable restrictions on women and girls. Worsen, misogyny is institutionalized in the ayatollahs’ constitution and unequal measures are annually exacerbated. For instance, during the recent months, the government has tracked new magnitude in violation of Iranian women’s rights such as arresting and issuing severe sentences for activists, asking a foreign country to invalid the record of fastest woman runner, and compelling many athletes and brains to leave the country.
In response, Iran’s women seize any opportunity to protest the regime. They also bore pivotal roles in the latest anti-establishment demonstrations in November 2019 and January 2020. Notably, the main opposition group to the religious dictatorship, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MWK), is led by women. Over the past 40 years, the PMOI/MEK challenged the mullahs’ regime in different sectors.
Also, the Iranian Resistance is known by its President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. Since 1993, thanks to her admirable courage and tireless efforts, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has made as to the sole viable alternative to the theocratic rule. Mrs. Rajavi believes in the women’s power in confrontation against the misogynist dictatorship. Her beliefs resulted in emerging a new generation who not only struggle for their own emancipation, but also for the individual freedom of the entire Iranian people.
Their struggle even forced Iranian officials to admit to the role of women and girls in recent protests. “Two or three hours after dusk we encountered cells comprising of 4 to 6 persons, usually accompanied by a woman enticing people to join in the protests,” the Interior Minister Abdul Reza Rahmani Fazli on November 26.
Previously, the Iranian state-run media expressed their superiors’ concerns over the growth of women’s roles in revolts. “Women had a remarkable role in the recent mischief. They had a special role in various scenes in inciting the public to carry out acts against the establishment,” the state-run newspaper Mashreq wrote on November 20.
Additionally, on the same day, the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency reacted to the women’s activities against the ayatollahs’ dictatorship on the hand and the regime’s shocking on the other hand. “Some women had a pivotal role in leading the riots… Women’s special role in running and leading the recent riots seemed remarkable. In numerous places particularly in Tehran suburbs, women who were apparently between 30 to 35 years old, had a special role in leading the riots… These women wore the same garbs, each had a different role; one filmed the riots, the other stopped the cars, and another one incited the people to join the ranks of riots…,” Fars published.
Furthermore, the IRGC and security forces employed harsh crackdown on protesters and killed more than 1,500 innocent people, 400 of whom were women. “Among the victims were little girls as young as 3 and 8 years old, a young woman, 14, as well as mothers of many children and women as old as 60 years of age. Many more were arrested and subjected to the most severe torture and inhumane conditions in the mullahs’ prisons,” stated the NCRI’s women committee.
In this respect, in homage to women’s struggle and sacrifice in November protests, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi declared this global women’s day, the day of women martyred in the November uprising.
We declare #IWD2020 , the day of Women Martyred in the #Iran Uprising in November 2019 #InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/MiseuQQmIv
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) March 8, 2020
Despite the bloodiest suppression in the Islamic Republic’s history, brave women and girls flooded into the street in January once again. They returned stronger back to the scene and since the primary moment turned mourning procession into an anti-government protest demanding Khamenei to resign. “The IRGC is the main reason for the people’s misery,” women chanted.
In conclusion, Iranian women were and are the first victims of the mullahs’ dictatorship and many of them paid the cost of resistance by their lives, however, they still play the main role in the struggle toward freedom, equality, and justice.
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