A Public Circle Around a Private Suffering/ Nasim Khosravi

It is a hot afternoon in June 2008 (Khordad 1387), at the entrance of a hospital in central Tehran. A distressed woman asks passersby for help contacting her child’s paternal uncle. The child must undergo surgery as soon as possible, and her signature on the consent form is not acceptable. The father, who separated from […]...

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From One Million Signatures to Woman, Life, Freedom: Continuity or Rupture?/ Hermineh Hourdad

When we speak today of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, there is a strong temptation to begin everything in September 2022 (Shahrivar 1401), as though the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini suddenly gave birth to the questions of women, freedom, and the body in Iranian society. But the memory of the women’s movement tells a […]...

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Twenty Years of Transformation in Iranian Women’s Activism/ Diako Moradi

Twenty years after the launch of the “One Million Signatures Campaign to Change Discriminatory Laws,” revisiting this experience becomes meaningful when we assess it not only by the number of signatures that were supposed to be collected or the laws that were supposed to be changed, but by the impact it had on forms of […]...

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How Did Repression Change the Course of the One Million Signatures Campaign?/ Sina Yousefi

The twentieth anniversary of the One Million Signatures Campaign provides an opportunity to revisit one of the most important experiences of Iran’s women’s movement. It was an experience that, in the mid-2000s, sought to move the demand for legal equality from the realm of specialized discussions and limited circles of activists into the sphere of […]...

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The Discriminatory Legal Structure Against Women in Iran and the Strategic Logic of the One Million Signatures Campaign/ Parvaneh Ahmadi

The legal, social, and political status of women in contemporary Iranian history, particularly in the decades following the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979 (1357), has always been marked by profound contradictions and complexities. On the one hand, as time has passed, Iranian society has witnessed the dynamism and extensive presence of women in […]...

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One Million Signatures, Beyond the Borders/ Monireh Kazemi

Throughout different periods of history, there have always been Iranian migrants and exiles. What distinguishes this era from previous ones, however, is, first, their large numbers and widespread dispersal across different parts of the world and, second, their constant exploration of their personal pasts and Iran’s recent history—an exploration accompanied by a sense of longing […]...

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Women at the Helm, the Government on the Brakes/ Pardis Parsa

Today in Iran, motorcycles and electric scooters have evolved from recreational vehicles or means of transportation associated with particular social classes into essential tools for earning a livelihood and for fast, inexpensive transportation. Nevertheless, the absence of a single, transparent procedure for issuing licenses to half of the country’s population has pushed women motorcyclists into […]...

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Twenty years after one million signatures; a work by Motaharah Jafari

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How do women pay the highest price for economic crisis and war?/ Elahe Amani

War fundamentally transforms the labor market by destroying infrastructure, massive population displacement, collapsing economic activity, disrupting education and health systems, and rupturing social networks. Although the consequences of war affect all segments of society, its economic effects on women are deeper and more lasting, as women not only face reduced job opportunities, income, and economic […]...

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Gender Justice in the World: Fragile Achievements and Challenges Ahead / Elaheh Amani

The seventieth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) was held from March 9 to March 19, 2026, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The theme of this session was “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls,” and it encompassed axes such as “promoting […]...

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Women’s Health Between Population Policy and Class Inequality / Dina Ghalibaf

Following the sudden and quiet removal of the Iranian “Papilloguard” vaccine from pharmacies across the country, women who had been awaiting national vaccination to prevent infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) have been forced to turn to foreign vaccines at prices several times higher—vaccines whose cost is incompatible with the economic circumstances of many women. […]...

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Femicide in Iran: Unequal Law, Violent Structures, and the Cycle of Impunity / Maryam Hosseini

Femicide in Iran is a crisis phenomenon that reflects deep gender inequalities, legal gaps, and a culture of male dominance. The increase in the number of women being murdered, along with the absence of a strong legal framework that specifically addresses the killing of women based on gender, has raised concerns that some of these […]...

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