Basically, the position of women in Iran is only based on their gender and has been shaped by discriminatory laws imposed by the ruling authorities. They face extensive political, social, and economic limitations and deprivations, leading to a suffocating life. The freedom of dress for women has been taken away and replaced with mandatory hijab. The inhumane and repulsive law of polygamy has been reinstated in favor of men. The marriage and divorce laws have been reformed in favor of men. Custody of children over the age of seven has been taken away from mothers. Anti-women laws regarding blood money, inheritance, and testimony have been passed. The medieval and anti-human stoning law has been reinstated for women. Women have been prevented from participating in certain sports and artistic activities, and have been prohibited from obtaining certain job positions. In this way, women in Iranian society have been subjected to countless injustices, indignities, and violations of their rights.

Women in Iran have risen up against the ignorant and superstitious representatives with their daily struggles and unwavering determination, fighting for their violated rights with selflessness. On March 8, 1979, Iranian women rose up against the anti-women policies of the ruling government with the slogan “No to hijab, no to submission.” Since then, women have continuously shown their leadership in civil protests in Iran, standing against oppression, humiliation, and barbarism. Instead of mourning their loved ones in the solitude of their homes, mothers of martyrs have chosen to join peaceful protests and become messengers of justice, peace, and reconciliation, rather than seeking revenge. As the mother of Sohrab Arabi, a victim of the Green Movement, said, “If all political prisoners are released and the leaders of the Green Movement are freed, then my son’s blood will not have been shed in vain.”

Women have gained the ability to replace violence and barbarism with dialogue in various spheres of political, social, and cultural life, based on the capacities they have shown in the process of forming democratic behaviors, cooperation and unity, campaigns, and creating peace groups and defending women’s rights. The public demands of Iranian women revolve around: political freedom and social justice, political, social, economic, and cultural equality between women and men in all human activities, ending sexual apartheid, abolishing mandatory veiling, abolishing anti-women family laws, abolishing polygamy laws, abolishing all laws that prescribe and promote violence in any form and for any reason, and ultimately abolishing all laws that create restrictions, deprivation, and prohibitions for Iranian women in the fields of employment, art, culture, etc.

International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on March 8th. This day is a great opportunity to hold celebrations for women all around the world. Depending on different regions, the focus of the celebrations may vary, but it is a day to honor, appreciate, and present recognition to women.

Love for women and celebrating their economic, political, and social achievements. This day initially began as a socialist political event, but later became intertwined with the culture of many countries, primarily in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet Union. International Women’s Day has lost its political significance in many regions and has become an occasion for men to express their love for women, similar to Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. However, in other regions, such as Australia, the political principle and human rights framework set by the United Nations is strongly enforced.

Our intention is that all divisions among humans are artificial. And surely, in conveying the truths related to the primitive violation of women’s rights in Iran to the ears of the world, in exposing the oppressions, injustices, and rights violations that are imposed on women, we are all obligated in this moment in time because the masses will only awaken with practical realities, and unity and fearlessness are the beginning of action, for behind this veil of suffering, there is surely freedom.