On Saturday, February 22, 2025, the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran hosted a conference to commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD 2025). The event gathered distinguished political leaders, human rights advocates, and supporters of the Iranian Resistance from over 80 countries.
Sihem Badi is a former Tunisian Minister of Women’s Affairs from 2011 to 2014.
Sihem Badi delivered a speech at the IWD 2025 event in Paris, excerpts of which are presented below.
Sihem Badi: The Power of Women’s Presence
Ladies and gentlemen, dear sisters in struggle, it is with deep emotion that I speak today, on this day when we celebrate the strength, courage, and determination of women around the world.
I thank the Iranian opposition for this invitation and salute the presence of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, as well as the ministers, personalities, and influential women gathered here today.
I speak above all as an engaged woman, as a former minister, as an activist, but also, like many women among you, as a political exile for eighteen years.
Yes, before the Tunisian revolution, I experienced, like many of you, the path of exile, just like so many other women who refused to submit to injustice.
A Call for Unity and Strength
Today, I want to pay special tribute to Iranian women who endure unimaginable violence and continue to resist with unwavering determination. Mothers, activists, journalists, prisoners—they embody resistance.
In the face of injustice, we will not forget the tireless activists leading all these women. I salute the resistance and the struggle of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.
Before you, I make a call today: let us unite our voices, refuse to accept fate, and demand together a world where being a woman no longer means being a target, but being a force.
History teaches us that dictatorships fall.
Yes, dictatorships fall, and tyrants fade, but the struggle of women never dies because we are life, we are hope, and we are the future.
Long live freedom, long live free women, long live the ranks of free women and free men!
