What will be the future of the women’s life freedom movement in Iran in the Shadow of War?

I am astounded when I see the world with the issues of women’s empowerment and gender justice. At present, there are two major issues for discussion: first, the presidential election of the United States of America, and second, Iran-Israel’s possibilities of war. These two different phenomena for the world has been talking about the multifaceted marginality on gender issues.

Dr Krishan Kumar

There is a huge disparity in the status of women around the world. One side in the USA Kamala Harris has been fighting the presidential election; she has been advocating about the abortion rights of women, and even her competitors have been using her personal life to defeat her in this election. As Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican governor in Arkansas, spoke about Kamala Harris, she has not had any biological kids, which will have been her humble. Sanders’ remarks have been raising the question mark on the liberty of women to produce children or not. However, Kamala Harries gave the answer of (Sanders) that I have stepchildren, who are very auspicious for me, and I love them till death.

Kamala criticized the former president’s statement on the issue of abortion, saying that the USA’s women should not think about abortion. So, there is a different kind of discourse on the issues of women. In the USA, women have been enjoying their rights with dignity, but still, their gender identity is a matter for their supporters and competitors. Kamala Harris did not have any biological children, which makes her an incomplete woman for the post of president as per her competitors. 

On the other hand, in Iran, the issues of women are different from those in the USA. As I (the author) discussed with a scholar of Tehran University, she told me on the term that I would not disclose her/his name. It (used for People to hide gender identity) spoke that Iranian’ society does not support the ideology of Hezbollah and Hamas, Because Iran’s present government is not a full-fledged democratic; on the other hand, it is a totalitarian government; more than 50 percent of the population has been not participating in the electoral process of Iran. 

The state supports patriarchal policies, especially on the grounds of gender, in September 2022, Iran’s government consisted of hijab for women, as it was an issue for the government after the 1979 revolution, authorities wanted women to embody their vision of revolutionary and Islamic ideals. Consequently, they imposed the use of dark, hijabs called. Simultaneously, women were treated as second-class citizens in both legal frameworks and practicality; the theocracy imposed restrictions on marriage, divorce, employment, inheritance, and political participation.

Although Iranian women opposed to the laws confronted severe violence, they found a way to tangibly assert agency over their bodies in their daily behaviors. Many women rejected the hijab and the conservative values associated with it. The hijab was a cause of protest in Iran, but the government used violence to suppress this confrontation. The issue of hijab was highlighted after the killing of Mahsa Jina Amini, a 22-year-old girl, in state custody in September 2022.  After the killing of Amini, millions of people protested and the government used rebar bullets, and more the 500 young people were killed in this women’s life freedom movement.

This shows that Iran’s policies are based on extremist Islamic notions that gender is binary and that social responsibilities should be split between men and women. Iran does not recognize non-binary genders. Iran is one of the leading executioners of women, having, in 2022, executed 16 of the 24 women who were executed globally that year and the numbers were high during 2023, at least 22 women were executed. Many women convicted of visas are themselves victims of domestic violence or child marriage. United Nations also accepted that

Iranian law be urgently reformed to abolish patriarchal laws, which do not accept the liberty, equality, and dignity of the individual. (UNGA’s Report on Human Rights, 2024) Transgender people in Iran face significant social stigma, lack of legal protections, and daily challenges. They are often forced to hide their identity and move to new cities for dignity.

Another component for the marginality and discrimination in Iran on the ground of sexual orientation, as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) face various kinds of violence and are stigmatized by society. Among the abuses faced by the LGBTQ community in Iran:

1) Iran is one of only six countries that impose the death penalty for same-sex relations.

2) The death penalty can and has been applied to juvenile LGBTQ individuals.

3) Flogging and imprisonment are also imposed for many same-sex acts and cross-dressing.

4) Activists are convicted of national security crimes for peaceful LGBTQ advocacy.

5) Honor killings by LGBTQ family members are encouraged by lenient laws.

6) 77% of LGBTQ people surveyed in Iran reported experiencing violence in homes.

On the ground of ethnicity in Iran—Jews, Christians, and especially Bahais. The Bahais are Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, with an estimated population of 300,000. They are excluded by the mainstream by institutional and structural mechanisms. They are barred from holding government jobs, and their shops and other enterprises are routinely closed or discriminated against by officials at all levels. Young Bahais are prevented from attending university, and those volunteer Bahais educators who have sought to fill that gap have been arrested and imprisoned. Even the executions of ethnic minorities are more as per proportionate population. We can say that like Dalit’ women, minority women faced multiplied discrimination in Iran by the state and society.

The situation is very critical for the activists and social reformers, who have been working for human rights in Iran, because Hamas on October 7, 2023, took the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis as well as more than 250 hostages. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, made a destructive response to Hamas’ attack with the death of more than 40,000 people in Gaza, 1,00,000 injured, and about two million Palestinians displaced from their homes and living in conditions of abject misery. Simultaneously, Israel has been expanding its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. (IE, October 7, 2024, p.8) That is why, Iranian society thinks that Isreal also not cares about human rights.

Iran has been supporting continuously Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, and the Houthis in Yemen, to fight Israel without declaring official war. On September 27, 2024, however, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted a Beirut bunker. With the cooperation of many intelligence services, the Israeli Air Force executed a well-planned strike that claimed the lives of several key Hezbollah leaders in addition to Nasrallah. Nasrallah’s death charged the tension between Iran and Israel, as both countries’ leaderships have been going through extreme ideological conflicts, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had appealed to the Islamic states should be united against Isreal.

However, around the world, people’s sympathy towards Palestinians increased as more than 40,000 marched on October 5, 2024, in London, while thousands gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila, Cape Town, and New York City to demand an end to bloodshed in Gaza and the Middle East. Even in Berlin, 1,000 demonstrators with Palestinian flags, who chanted: “one year of Genocide”. But my concern is gender equality in Iran, particularly. Because the shadow of conflict between Iran- Israel will hide this movement.

Note: The writer is an expert of Micro Dalit Issues and Associate Professor In Jamuna Nagar, Haryana