Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, the website of the NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi published parts of her remarks on this occasion, entitled, The Motto of Iran’s Arisen Women is “Women Resistance Freedom”
At this moment, we remember all the women who have been subjected to oppression and repression this year. We especially remember the thousands of women who, over the past year, have lost their homes, and their children in the flames of wars in the Middle East and those who have tragically lost their lives.
Violence and repression target women in all aspects of life.
In more than four decades, the misogynist mullahs’ regime has imprisoned, tortured, and executed tens of thousands of women who opposed it. These martyrs inspire the Iranian people’s struggle.
The people of Iran are calling for the regime’s overthrow, and women are leading this fight, making them the primary targets of brutal repression.
Iranian women have always been at the forefront of the struggle against this regime. They also play key roles in positions of leadership at every level of the PMOI and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the NCRI.
One of the most horrific forms of violence against women is sexual assault, especially in the case of detainees who are opponents and protesters. The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission confirms that sexual assault against those who were detained during the 2022 uprising in Iran was a planned act of violence.
This practice, which has been going on for years based on orders from the highest levels of the regime officials, is considered a crime against humanity.
At the social level, a key method of repression of women is carried out through imposing the compulsory hijab.
There is a very significant political and historical experience in this regard. During the dark period of Reza Shah’s dictatorship, women’s head coverings were removed by force at gunpoint.
Under the mullahs’ regime, women are once again being oppressed, this time by imposing the compulsory hijab.
Both dictatorships have denied women the freedom to choose their clothing.
The regime and its allies have tried to minimize the struggle for the regime’s overthrow when women can achieve all their rights and freedoms. Instead, they have tried to replace it with the limited demand for freedom from the Hijab. In this way, they mislead the struggle to overthrow the regime.
However, during the 2022 uprising, female protesters and students rejected all forms of dictatorship, both the shah and the mullahs. They wisely chanted, “With or without the hijab, onward to the revolution.”
In the Iranian Resistance, we have always reiterated, “No to compulsory veil, no to compulsory religion, and No to compulsory government.”
The women of Iran are aware, and they have experienced that violence, and repression can be ended through the fight for freedom and equality. The slogan of Iran’s freedom-loving women is “Women Resistance Freedom.” Iranian women have chosen to resist against this regime.
The people of Iran and their pioneering women will finally end the rule of the Velayat-e Faqih regime.
