30th September 2022
Woman, Life, Freedom: A Statement of Solidarity with Women in Iran
26 min read
An update following the 35th Special Session of the Human Rights Council
An update: 15th November 2022
Equality Now continues to stand in solidarity with the people of Iran rising up in protest, demanding “Woman, Life, Freedom” and calling for accountability at all levels, nationally and globally. Events of the past two months in Iran, since the death of Mahsa Amini, have shown the world the bravery of its citizens in the face of increasing state violence and oppression including credible reports of rape and killing of women and girls, the arrests of thousands of protestors, attacks on those in prison and detention, the targeting and killings of youth demanding their rights, and the use of death sentences to terrorize and subdue their own population.
While change is being driven in Iran by Iranian citizens, internationally we must also use all the UN mechanisms possible to hold the Iranian state accountable. We therefore welcome the announcement of a UN Human Rights Council special session on “the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, where we anticipate the resolution to set up a fact-finding mission to investigate will be expedited with urgency. We call on the UN Secretary-General to immediately operationalize this necessary and vital mission. The session will be held on Thursday, 24 November and livestreamed on webtv.un.org
The UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) session in March 2023 must also decisively deliver on its responsibility to address the human rights violations in Iran against women and girls. The popular demand that Iran should be kicked off the CSW, in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini and the deaths and persecution of protestors, seems reasonable at first glance. Indeed, Iran was elected to the CSW by the members of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in a secret ballot with a seat until the end of 2026. But these calls may do more harm than good, and if there is a change in government soon it may be difficult to re-elect them. (It is important to note that the United States’ and other governments’ calling for Iran’s unprecedented expulsion from the CSW could be seen as a double standard, as the United States and Somalia have not even ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) either but are currently CSW members too, and continue to perpetrate violence and discrimination against women and girls in their own countries.) All governments serving on CSW, from Afghanistan to Zambia, including Iran, must uphold the rule of international law and protect the rights of all women and girls.
Original Statement: 30th September 2022
This statement is also available in Farsi and Arabic.
We stand in solidarity with those in Iran who are demanding accountability from their government on this incident. We support the United Nations demand for a full and independent investigation into the circumstances that led to Mahsa’s death. President Raisi must keep his promise that the Iranian authorities “steadfastly investigate the incident” as part of his commitment to “safeguarding the rights of every citizen”.
As a global community committed to gender equality, peace, prosperity and stability, we condemn the policies and events that led to the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Irani woman who died whilst in the custody of Iran’s morality police. Mahsa had been detained for allegedly not wearing the forced hijab properly.
However, more than just investigating the death of Mahsa, the Iranian government must act urgently to reform its laws, policies and practices that put Mahsa in harm’s way in the first place and continue to foster insecurity and inequality in the country.
Inequality of women has been correlated to conflict and lack of security. Government policies on women have a direct bearing on peacefulness and security of societies. Iran falls short in this area being ranked 76 out of 191 on the Human Development Index in the UNDP Human Development report. This is manifested in statistics that show an approximate 36% of murders between 2013 and 2017 are men killing female relatives in the name of “honor”.
The slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom” raised by Iranian protestors cannot be ignored. Recent polls show that 72% of Iranians do not believe the hijab should be enforced by the government, rather it is a matter of choice for Muslim women. We fully endorse a statement by Musawah, a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family.
The government of Iran should urgently review and address its laws and policies that discriminate against women. As an initial matter, it must repeal Article 638 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code which allows imprisonment of women for failure to wear prescribed Islamic dress. Other such laws include, without limitation, laws that allow girls to get married before 18, that prescribe male guardianship over women and discount the testimony of women.
We urge the Iranian government to:
We urge the United Nations:
The international community must hold Iran to account and continue diplomatic efforts in the matter of Mahsa Amini’s death and in ensuring that Iran upholds, respects and promotes human rights and women’s equality.
Co-signees of organizations, activists, academics, and lawyers of Islam and many other faiths from across the world
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