La Dépêche du Midi published the following article on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
OP-ED: Iranian Women: The Driving Force of Change, Pioneers of a Universal Struggle
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, an international collective has signed an op-ed in support of Iranian women’s struggle for freedom. Among the signatories of this text, published below by La Dépêche du Midi, are Dominique Attias, President of the Board of the European Lawyers Foundation; philosopher Elisabeth Badinter; author and former Colombian senator Ingrid Betancourt; and Laurence Tubiana, President of the European Climate Foundation.
The astonishing courage of Iranian women during the 2022-2023 uprising remains forever etched in our memories. In its report to the UN Human Rights Council, the independent international fact-finding mission denounced “the numerous grave human rights violations and crimes under international law committed against women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Was the emancipation of Iranian women merely a fleeting utopia, suffocated by brutal repression, murder, torture, and rape, as this report states? That would indeed be the conclusion if we reduced this grand epic to the romanticized image portrayed by certain media outlets, influenced by a faction of the Iranian diaspora nostalgic for the past. Observing Iran solely through such a narrow lens would lead to disappointment. Is the struggle of Iranian women merely about removing a veil? This perspective blinds us to the reality: veiled women and men alike marching alongside courageous young girls. It fails to capture the sight of Baluchi women, dressed in their traditional attire and wearing the chador, chanting: “With or without the veil, we march toward overthrow!”
The movement that emerged in 2022, following the tragic murder of young Kurdish woman Jina (Mahsa) Amini, represented far more than just a rejection of theocracy. It embodied an aspiration for a new societal vision. It was a remarkable display of diversity, sisterhood and solidarity, pluralism, and a secularism that transcends our own fragile models, which often falter in the face of misogynistic fundamentalism and ingrained machismo. Iranian women proclaim: “We march toward overthrow!” — not only of a despotic religious regime and a misogynistic culture but to establish true equality. This is by no means a rejection of Iran’s rich culture and civilization.
To reduce this uprising to a mere desire for “Westernization” would be simplistic, just as it would be a mistake to believe that the 1979 anti-monarchical revolution was solely a rejection of the West. A closer look reveals that, from one revolution to the next, the Iranian people reject despotism in all its forms and aspire to freedom. “Down with the tyrant, whether Shah or Mullah!” chanted the protesters.
The Iranian regime has tried to stifle women’s advancement by imposing the compulsory veil, barring them from certain university disciplines, excluding them from positions such as judgeships, and keeping them out of political decision-making roles. Yet, Iranian women have been at the forefront of emancipation since the early 20th century. Let us remember the Iranian women who, in 1911, stormed the parliament (Majlis), concealing pistols under their chadors to prevent the passage of a colonialist law. Iranian women did not wait until 2022 to challenge one of the most misogynistic regimes in modern history; they did so as early as March 1979, with the first mass protests against the compulsory veil.
The young generation continues to defy the mullahs with remarkable audacity. Girls walk openly in broad daylight with their hair uncovered, defying the morality police (Gasht-e Ershad). At night, this youth, organized in Resistance Units—often led by courageous women—takes to the streets, instilling fear in the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards by burning symbols of the regime. Women resist even from within prison walls, like Maryam Akbari Monfared, a mother of three daughters, who has been sentenced to 17 years in prison without a single day of leave.
Iranian Women: Pioneers of a Universal Struggle
Faced with the impossibility of change within this dictatorial and misogynistic regime, Iranian women have understood that they must take the helm of the Resistance. Françoise Héritier once described it as “an extraordinary human experience that we can only observe, admire, support, and even draw inspiration from.” Thousands of young girls and women of all ages have been executed for daring to challenge the dictatorship. In 1988, nearly all imprisoned female members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization, who advocated for democracy and the separation of religion from the state, were massacred in prison.
This is a struggle for equality, for reclaiming popular sovereignty, for defending fundamental human rights, for the abolition of the death penalty, and for establishing a free and secular republic. All of this is enshrined in the Ten-Point Plan presented by Maryam Rajavi, the leading figure of this resistance. On International Women’s Day, in the presence of numerous influential women from around the world, she summarized this fight: “Today, the insurgent girls, the architects of uprisings, embody the will of Iranian women fighters. With the slogan ‘Women, Resistance, Freedom,’ they firmly oppose all forms of coercion. As we have always said: No to the imposed veil, no to imposed religion, and no to an imposed government. Yes, women are the force of change.” We are deeply convinced that Iranian women already carry within them the seeds of a new, more equal society.
Signatories:
- Jelena Aparac, former member and chair-rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries
- Rosalia Arteaga, former President of the Republic of Ecuador
- Dominique Attias, President of the Board of the European Lawyers Foundation
- Elisabeth Badinter, philosopher
- Alice Benhamou Panetta, National Founder and President of VLF (Vivent les Femmes)
- Ingrid Betancourt, author and former senator of Colombia
- Alda M. Facio, former chair-rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls
- Ghada Hatem-Gantzer, hospital practitioner, Founder of the Maison des Femmes
- Elisabeth Rabesandratana, lawyer at the International Criminal Court
- Noanne Tenneson, Director General of the Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights (AADH)
- Laurence Tubiana, President of the European Climate Foundation
- Catherine Wihtol de Wenden, Director of Research at CNRS
- F. Sème Wallon, National Secretary of the European Women’s Union*
*Ms. Wallon signed the declaration after the publication of this article in La Dépêche du Midi.
