January 18, 2010

A group of Iranian women’s activists issued a statement listing their own solutions to the crisis gripping Iran. They stress that the proposals put forth by opposition leaders, Mir-Hosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi neglect the position of women.

The statement lists: “annulment of all discriminatory and anti-women/gender apartheid laws, recognition of women’s right to their body and mind, ending violence against women and prosecution of all perpetrators of the crimes committed in the past thirty years” as solutions for exiting the current crisis. They add that women’s issues are a major part of the current crisis and “no solution will be effective” without recognizing and trying to resolve these issues.

The statement also supports general demands such as “freedom of thought, speech and assembly.” While calling for an end to torture and the death penalty, they also express their support for “the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.”  Some of these demands are similar to those included in the proposals by MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

The statement emphasizes that the demand of the women’s community “is not changing the president or limiting the power of the leadership; but rather the realization of fundamental and structural changes.”

Shadi Amin (first photo), Golrokh Jahangeeri, Fariba Davoudi, Shadi Sadr (photo left), Mahboubeh Abbas-Gholizadeh (above right) and Dr. Shahla Abghari (below right) are amongst the signatories of this statement.

Women have played a major role in the recent protests in Iran and scores of women’s activists have been detained and imprisoned for their participation in the protests.

In November, MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi condemned the violent treatment of women by government forces during the protests.

Compiled and translated from Persian to English  by Planet Iran staff