MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM FALL OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES 2009

Introduction 1

Iran’s Presidential Elections: Women’s Role in the Pre- and Post-Election Politics 4

Quiet Leadership and Pressure from Below: Women’s Participation in Iranian Public Life 10 Women in the Iranian Election Campaign Women in Iran’s Green and Protest Movement: Their Role in the 2009 Presidential Introduction and called attention to the lack of progress on Election Protests 15 Kendra Heideman, Intern, Middle East Program regressive policies regarding women’s rights in Women played a prominent role throughout each Iran since Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005. The June Elections and the phase of Iran’s disputed June 2009 presidential Women were also active in the campaign, Change in Political election, including its aftermath. They were voted in large numbers, and later joined the Culture 18 actively courted by the candidates. Two candi- post-election protests despite the risk of arrest dates in particular, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and and in defiance of the batons, clubs, and guns of Mehdi Karroubi, promised to address women’s government security forces. The picture of Neda Reporting Chaos 20 rights issues and grant women cabinet seats if they Agha-Soltan, shot and bleeding to death on June were elected. In addition, Mousavi was joined 20, 2009 on a Tehran street, became the iconic by his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, on the campaign image of the protest movement. Another lasting trail in an act that underscored his commitment symbol was the use of the color green by mem- to a broad program for improving women’s bers of the Green Movement, a movement that rights, including his previous vow to review had started before the election and turned into laws that discriminate against women. In these a protest movement in response to the disputed largely unprecedented campaign moves directed election and government crackdown on post-elec- at women, the reformist candidates displayed tion protests, with significant participation from their recognition of women’s power to influence women and pro-women reformist candidates politics in Iran and specifically the June election. Mousavi and Karroubi. Leading women activists Such changes in campaigning on the reformist and journalists have been among the thousands side contrasted the traditional campaigning style arrested by the Iranian government in opposition 1 of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad protests since the election. Months after the June MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

About the Middle East Program

Director The Middle East Program was launched in February 1998 in light Dr. Haleh Esfandiari of increased U.S. engagement in the region and the profound changes sweeping across many Middle Eastern states. In addition to spotlighting Assistant day-to-day issues, the Program concentrates on long-term economic, social, Mona Youssef and political developments, as well as relations with the United States. The Middle East Program draws on domestic and foreign regional Special thanks experts for its meetings, conferences, and occasional papers. Conferences Special thanks to Mona and meetings assess the policy implications of all aspects of developments Youssef for coordinating within the region and individual states; the Middle East’s role in the inter- this publication; Kendra national arena; American interests in the region; the threat of terrorism; Heideman, Anna Van Hollen, arms proliferation; and strategic threats to and from the regional states. and Nader Mehran for their The Program pays special attention to the role of women, youth, extensive editing assistance; civil society institutions, Islam, and democratic and autocratic tenden- Lianne Hepler and her staff cies. In addition, the Middle East Program hosts meetings on cul- for designing the Occasional tural issues, including contemporary art and literature in the region. Paper Series; and David Hawxhurst for taking the • Gender Issues: The Middle East Program devotes considerable atten- photographs. tion to the role of women in advancing civil society and to the attitudes of governments and the clerical community toward women’s rights in the family and society at large. The Program examines employment pat- terns, education, legal rights, and political participation of women in the region. The Program also has a keen interest in exploring women’s increas- ing roles in conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction activities..

• Current Affairs: The Middle East Program emphasizes analysis of cur- rent issues and their implications for long-term developments in the region, including: Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy, Iran’s political and nuclear ambi- tions, the presence of American troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf and their effect on the region, human rights violations, globalization, economic and political partnerships, and U.S. foreign policy in the region.

• Islam, Democracy and Civil Society: The Middle East Program monitors the growing demand of people in the region for democratization, political participation, accountable government, the rule of law, and adher- ence by their governments to international conventions, human rights and women’s rights. It continues to examine the role of Islamic movements in shaping political and social developments and the variety of factors that favor or obstruct the expansion of civil society.

The following papers are based on the authors’ presen- tations at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on July 13, 2009. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the 2 Woodrow Wilson Center. presidential election, the Green Movement has In “Women in Iran’s Green Movement: Their remained a resilient voice of opposition to the Role in the 2009 Presidential Election Protest,” Ahmadinejad government because of the consid- Fatemeh Haghighatjoo features Iranian women erable and continued involvement of women. as agents of change and points to their involve- To address the role of women in the 2009 presidential election in Iran, the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a panel discussion on July 13, 2009 on “Women in the Iranian Election Campaign and Protest.” The speak- ers examined the roots and implications of the unusual role women played in the politics of the June election. In “Iran’s Presidential Elections: Women’s Role in the Pre- and Post-Election Politics,” Nayereh Tohidi contends that while women played a visible, active and seemingly unprec- edented role in the June 2009 elections and post- election demonstrations, the women’s political movement in Iran has been evolving for more ment on the front lines of post-election pro- than a century. After reviewing the significant tests. She provides a background of women’s political and social developments since the 1979 extraordinary influence on the election cam- Revolution, she discusses the current women’s paign, emphasizing the candidates’ promises to movement as diverse, non-ideological, pro-dem- improve women’s rights and increase gender ocratic and dedicated to collective activism. equality. Observing how Iranian women have Through analysis of women’s participation in become increasingly aware of the absence of their the Green Movement, Tohidi highlights how social, political, and legal rights through shared the Iranian regime is suffering from a legitimacy experiences and hardships, Haghighatjoo under- crisis and extended distrust while calls for democ- scores the women’s collective spirit of resistance racy are becoming connected to advancements in that continues to empower women and drive the gender politics. reformist Green Movement. She concludes that Norma Claire Moruzzi presents a historical these united and determined women, through a and social foundation of Iranian women’s role non-violent approach, are struggling to transform in politics, providing context to their role in their society. the recent election in “Quiet Leadership and Pari Esfandiari highlights the role of the media Pressure from Below: Women’s Participation in covering women’s participation in the elections in Iranian Public Life.” She details the pro- and post-election protests in “Reporting Chaos,” gression of women’s rights and conditions in focusing specifically on the online media platform Iran since the Revolution. Identifying sev- IranDokht. Her paper spans IranDokht’s web eral unprecedented changes in women’s role in coverage of the election, from women registering the 2009 presidential campaign and election, as presidential candidates to interviews with can- Moruzzi highlights the cooperation of secular didates’ advisors and to women’s participation in and reformist women’s groups and the pres- post-election demonstrations. Emphasizing the ence of Zahra Rahnavard as two significant campaign’s unprecedented openness and use of advancements. Additionally, she argues that technology, Esfandiari discusses how candidates women’s involvement in the post-election dem- catered to Iran’s tech-savvy youth by posting onstrations further signifies an increasingly campaign information on blogs, Facebook, and integrated and bottom-up movement within YouTube. Despite the difficulty of reporting after Iranian society. the election dispute, she stresses how IranDokht, 3 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

in particular, was able to provide up-to-date model of exchange and dialogue” highlights the information on the protest movement to the success of the Iranian women’s movement in international community and mobilize global mobilizing female political activists from across support for the demonstrators. the political spectrum around a cohesive message In “The June Elections and the Change in of change. Political Culture,” Jaleh Lackner-Gohari empha- The featured papers, based on the speak- sizes the uniqueness of the current Iranian ers’ presentations, demonstrate the changing women’s movement and its unprecedented role role of women and the women’s movement in the June 2009 election. She details the pro- in Iran. Whether focusing on Internet-savvy gression of Iranian women’s role in politics from young women getting political updates from their impact in the 1997 election of President candidates’ Facebook pages before the election Khatami to their formation of the One Million or determined older women demonstrating on Signatures Campaign and to the “Coalition of the front lines after the election, these papers Women” that consolidated women’s groups of highlight the prominence of women throughout various perspectives before the 2009 election. the election. Although the authors emphasize According to Lackner-Gohari, the current move- different aspects of women’s participation in the ment’s self-empowering approach and inclusive June 2009 election, they rightly acknowledge the method have effectively communicated their unprecedented nature of the elections, the active goals, transforming the Iranian political climate participation of women, and the indefinite impli- before and after the election. Such a “horizontal cations for Iran.

Iran’s Presidential Elections: Women’s Role in the Pre- and Post-Election Politics Nayereh Tohidi, Chair and Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies Department, California State University, Northridge

Iranian women figured prominently in the tenth illustrated the clash between a changing society presidential elections of June 2009, in which and an increasingly repressive government. But Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner the massive participation of women in the latest by a wide margin. In large pre-election rallies and protests is not an unprecedented, overnight devel- intense campaigns, and during the post-election opment. This has been the result of many years of upheaval, women played a visible and active role. rather quiet educational and organizational work Several internal conflicts within the ruling elites, carried out by many small groups of women and including long-existing cracks within the ranks of men focused on civil rights, especially women’s the Shi’ite clerics and also between the people and rights. Women’s social activism and participation the state, came to the fore during and after the in political movements in modern Iran has more presidential elections. Women in large numbers than 100 years of recorded history, with special joined the massive street protests that followed the highlights during the Constitutional Revolution vote, as opposition candidates and their supporters of 1906–1911, the nationalist movement of the raised accusations of wholesale fraud in the official 1950s, the modernization and reform processes of results and declared it an “electoral coup.” the 1960s and 1970s, and the Islamic Revolution The international media, often unaware of of 1978–79.1 the brewing women’s movement in Iran, were What is unprecedented is not the massive surprised to see women marching in the demon- quantity but a new quality of women’s participa- strations in large numbers and braving the violent tion, which is marked by a high level of gender 4 response by security forces, which dramatically consciousness, self-confidence, and feminist agen- cy. During the 1979 Revolution, too, thousands Several interrelated, and at times paradoxi- of women, mostly covered in black veils, rallied cal, factors have contributed to this evolutionary behind Ayatollah Khomeini under a populist process. Among recent changes at the local and Islamist discourse envisioning a utopian and national levels in Iran are the demographic chang- just Islamic society. But the current social upris- es such as increased urbanization and the youth ing is neither revolutionary nor sectarian. It is a bulge in Iran’s rising population; the dramatic nonviolent and non-ideological, pro-democracy increase in literacy and educational attainment, movement in which demands for individual free- especially among women, who now make up 63 dom and civil rights, including women’s rights, percent of university enrollment; the remarkable constitute its primary components. decline in fertility rates thanks to a successful Women from all walks of life, but mostly campaign for birth control and family planning young and urban middle-class women, took part along with an improvement in primary health in both the electoral campaigns and in the pro- care; the rise in women’s socio-political participa- tests against the results, which were widely viewed tion; and the increase in women’s contribution to as fraudulent. While some among these female economic, scientific, and cultural production in participants were devout women covered in the the arts, literature, and cinema. traditional black chadors, many others appeared The interplay of these internal changes with in colorful scarves, modern fashions, and secular certain developments at the international level, looks. Unlike the demonstrations orchestrated especially the impact of globalizing factors such by the government that we were used to seeing as the new communication technology (includ- over the past 30 years, these rather spontaneous ing the Internet, mobile phones, and satellite protests have not been sex-segregated. Women TV) and the global currency of human rights marched not behind men, but alongside men or discourse and feminism promoted by the United even in the forefront. Nations and by supportive devices such as the The nightly cries of “Allah-o-Akbar” (God is Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of great) and “Death to the Dictator” on the roof Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)2 that tops are similar to those during the 1978–79 are being ratified by an increasing number of UN Revolution. Unlike then, however, the current member states, have all contributed to the trans- movement is not dominated by sectarian and formations manifested in the current movement revolutionary Islamism. Nor is the revolutionary for democracy in Iran. Marxism-Leninism of the guerrilla movements of The socializing and politicizing impacts of the 1970s present in the current movement. While the 1979 Revolution on women, especially on a populist, religious, fundamentalist (Islamist), the traditional and conservative segments, helped and anti-imperialist discourse led by Ayatollah expand the size and influence of middle-class Khomeini was predominant in Iran in the 1970s, women in Iranian society. Initially formed dur- today a pluralist and predominantly secular dis- ing the years of modernization under the Pahlavi course based on human and women’s rights, civil dynasty from the1920s to the 1970s, the modern rights, and the democratic rule of law makes up middle-class and urban women of Iran made up the main framework of the current movement. the core of the women’s groups who resisted the By secular, I do not mean anti-religion or even discriminatory policies and laws enacted under irreligious, but, rather, an adherence to the sepa- the Islamist government since 1979. ration of state and religion. This growing secular They were later joined by an increasing num- tendency in Iran rejects theocracy, the supremacy ber of Islamic women activists and devout Muslim of the clerical power in politics, and the absolute women members of the traditionalist and conser- rule of the jurist (velayat-e motlaqeh faqih) and vative strata who gradually became disillusioned aspires to create a secular republic based on free with the Islamist utopia and moved toward a elections and parliamentary democracy. In other reformist reconstruction of the polity and a words, the dominant mindset in the current feminist reinterpretation of their faith. This was movement is post-Islamist and non-ideological. due to their encounter with patriarchal injustices 5 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

such as polygamy, temporary marriages, and male tive openness of the political atmosphere dur- privileges in divorce, child custody, and inheri- ing election times in order to render an active tance, along with many other discriminatory laws feminist intervention into the process. They and policies reinforced by the Islamic Republic. formed a diverse coalition called Convergence The increasing socioeconomic or class dispar- of Women (Hamgarayee Zanan) that repre- ity, corruption, and particularly the government sented 42 women’s groups and 700 individual repression of individual freedoms and civil rights, activists. The coalition pressed the presidential turned many female and male members of the candidates on two specific sets of women’s younger generations away from the Islamist state. demands: ratification of CEDAW and revi- Therefore, the youth, especially the student sion of four Articles (19, 20, 21, and 115) in movement and the women’s movement, now the constitution that enshrine gender-based make up the main forces of the current civil rights discrimination.4 Though as individuals, many effort and constitute the primary agents of change feminists did take sides and voted for one of the and democratization in Iran. two reform candidates, the coalition remained a demand-centered (motalebeh-mehvar) campaign Women’s Role in the Election Process only and avoided endorsement of any particular Elections in Iran are neither free nor fair. People candidate. Rather, it put each candidate on the are allowed to choose among a few candidates spot to address women’s issues and respond to who have passed the screening process and been the demands specified by the coalition. vetted by an unelected body called the Guardian The coalition tried to bring women’s issues Council.3 It was only a few months before the to the surface through their publications and June 12 elections that the overall mood shifted appearances in the media, on the campaign from political apathy and hopelessness to a trails and at street rallies, press conferences, and sense of hope for change, which resulted in a interviews with the candidates. They effectively vast mobilization to participate in voting. This utilized new communication technology (SMS was mainly due to the progressive platforms for via cell phones, e-mails, and the Internet) to net- change presented by the two reformist front-run- work and mobilize activists. Meanwhile, a film ners: Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. made by a prominent feminist director, Rakhshan What distinguished the reform candidates from Banietemad, put all of these efforts together in a the incumbent, President Ahmadinejad, were documentary accessible on the Internet. The film their promises to stop the latter’s onslaught on included revealing interviews on women’s issues civil rights, to improve the rights of women and with some prominent artists and the presidential religious and ethnic minorities, to mend the mis- candidates while they were sitting alongside their managed economy (marked by 25 percent infla- wives. Except for Ahmadinejad, the three other tion and rising unemployment), and to change presidential candidates agreed to participate. the hostile and confrontational foreign policy It should be noted that prior to the 2009 and militarization that have resulted in the UN electoral campaigns, a new wave of women’s resolutions against Iran, economic sanctions, and collective activism had already brought women’s the threat of Western military attacks and war, all demands for equal rights into the political of which have created an overall sense of national scene. Following a growing trend in activities of insecurity and isolation. women’s press and women NGOs since 1998 Among women activists, too, it took a and some street demonstrations in 2004 and while to overcome the widespread hesitance to 2005, a number of organized and focused collec- engage in the electoral process, especially by tive campaigns took shape in 2006. The largest, those who had lost all hope for political reform most grassroots and influential one has been the and trust in any of the candidates. About One Million Signatures Campaign to change three months before election day, however, an discriminatory laws.5 Other campaigns and increasing number of feminists and women’s coalitions included: the Stop Stoning Forever 6 groups decided to take advantage of the rela- Campaign; the Women for Equal Citizenship Campaign; the Women’s Access to Public pelled to bring along his wife during one of the Stadiums Campaign; the National Women’s campaign events. Charter Campaign; and Mothers for Peace.6 In short, both in symbolism and content, the Despite the peaceful and transparent nature of tenth presidential elections signified considerable the Iranian women’s movement, many women’s progress in gender politics in Iran. This progress activists have faced state repression such as smear has been mainly due to years of slow but persistent campaigns by the state-run media, beatings, and efforts by women toward consciousness-raising arrests by security forces. In the five years prior and feminist interventions in cultural and politi- to the presidential elections, over 70 women cal arenas. As briefly mentioned above, in recent activists were arrested, taken to Evin Prison and years, the women’s rights movement in Iran has charged with “disruption of public opinion,” been manifested in feminist press (print journals “propagating against the state,” and “endanger- as well as online web logs and websites); arts, ing of national security.” While most detainees literature, and movies; organized and focused col- were released on bail within a few weeks, some lective campaigns through networking; and other have been sentenced to several months or even activities in various NGOs. several years of imprisonment.7 All of these efforts contributed to the visible Women’s Role in the Post-Election changes in the gender politics of the tenth presi- Uprising dential election in 2009, which distinguished it As discussed earlier, women’s presence in the from previous races. For one, all of the three post-election Green Movement has been as candidates running against Ahmadinejad prom- prominent as the one in the election process. ised to address women’s demands raised by the The prevalence of artistic images, songs, and coalition and to also include female ministers poetry, especially the choice of the color green as in their cabinets should they get elected. The the unifying symbol, gave the reform camp a sort front-runner candidate, Mousavi, was usually of “feminine” tone. This rather spiritual, artistic, accompanied by his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, with and peaceful mood that predominated because whom he held hands—a bold and unprecedented of the presence of many young people, especially act in the Iranian sex-segregated political culture. young women, continued during the first days of Rahnavard, a prominent Muslim woman activist, protests in the aftermath of the election. accomplished writer, academic, and artist is the In the vote’s aftermath, millions of march- first woman to become a university president in ers flashed victory signs (instead of clenched Iran. Her stature, strong personality, outspoken- fists) and carried green-colored banners with the ness about human and women’s rights, and col- slogan: “Where is My Vote?” This simple yet orful headscarf were among the traits that added profound slogan signifies a prevalent keenness on to the appeal of this couple as a promising choice civil and political rights. The color green signifies for change. symbolism rooted in both the national Islamic The other reform candidate, Karroubi, also and the secular, pre-Islamic mythology and poet- conducted a much more woman-friendly cam- ry of Iran, but also the global color of peace, non- paign than the one he ran in 2005 during the violence, and environmental protection. previous elections. Though a clergyman, his Despite increasingly violent suppression, over campaign team—composed of some respected 3,000 arrests, and around 60 deaths (according reformers—included a prominent woman activ- to official figures), the activists who are engaged ist, Jamileh Kadivar, as the spokesperson of in the Green Movement so far have remained, his campaign headquarters. His wife, a strong for the most part, non-violent. Women’s roles as professional woman, was also actively involved political actors, journalists, lawyers, and activist in the management of his campaign. Even the demonstrators are clearly evident in the increas- conservative candidate, Mohsen Rezai, was seen ing number of women who are beaten, injured, accompanied by his wife in several campaign killed, or arrested as political prisoners since the meetings. Finally, Ahmadinejad himself felt com- June 12 upheavals.8 7 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

Even the first icon of the current civil rights designated public parks in Tehran. Following movement is a woman: Neda Agha-Soltan, who a call by Shirin Ebadi, a leading human rights was gunned down by the government-controlled lawyer and 2003 Nobel Laureate for Peace, militia while peacefully demonstrating. Her death Iranian mothers in other parts of Iran and the was captured by a cell phone camera for all the world have begun holding similar rallies on a world’s eyes to see, and it turned her into a mar- weekly basis as a show of global solidarity with tyr, which inspired more demonstrations and the women in Iran. outrage that followed. Neda’s characteristics are representative of A Post-Islamist Paradigm Shift in Iran’s some of the demographic, gender, and class ori- Political Culture entations of the current civil rights movement in The Green Movement is a home-grown product Iran. Her young age (27 years old) reminds us of of a long quest for reform, democracy, and rule of the 70 percent of Iran’s population below age 30 law in Iran. Ironically, it emerged from within the who are faced with increasing rates of unemploy- former revolutionary Islamists disillusioned with ment, socio-political repression, and humiliation totalitarian Islamism and was welcomed by many should Ahmadinejad’s repressive and militaristic secular dissident groups who have suffered from policies continue for another four years. Neda’s years of repression and marginalization under the Azeri ethnic background reminds us of Iran’s eth- Islamist regime. This cracking from within is, in nic diversity and the ongoing tension between the part, due to the internal contradictions embed- center and peripheries over socioeconomic dis- ded in the institutional hybrid called the “Islamic parity, discrimination, and uneven distribution Republic.” In the face of a growing movement of power and resources. Neda’s choice of fields for democracy and secular rule of law, the tense of study, theology and philosophy, was based coexistence of its theocratic, unelected compo- on her quest to find answers to the questions of nent (Islamic) with the elected, popular authority her time. But, as described by her mother, she (Republic) now seems untenable. became disappointed with the increasingly repres- In the aftermath of what many called the sive atmosphere of the universities and turned to “electoral coup,” state power is taken over by private training in music. Her music teacher was the increasingly powerful hard-line military actually with her on the day of the protest (June (the Revolutionary Guard) and its conservative 20, 2009) and was at her side when she was shot.9 clerical allies. This alliance seems determined Neda belonged to no political party or ideological to erode the republican part of the Islamic group. Her quest was basically for freedom and a Republic hybrid regime and further consoli- democratic society that would respect her human date its theocratic and unelected component rights and dignity as a woman. as the real power. But new cracks along with Another icon of this movement, a 19 year- the long-existing ones within the ranks of the old male student, Sohrab Árabi, was reportedly Shi’ite clerics seem to be deepening and mul- killed while in the custody of the security forces. tiplying. The post-election wave of repression, He became a rallying point mainly due to his the violent crackdown on peaceful and legal mother daring to speak out about her ordeal. demonstrations, torture, show trials and lies, Parvin Fahimi, who finally recovered the body and the revelation of cases of rape and sexual of her son after three weeks of searching from abuse of the political prisoners have expanded one prison to another, has become a lead- people’s distrust of and resentment toward the ing advocate for families of political prisoners government and resulted in a legitimacy crisis and mothers of martyred activists who have for the regime. formed a new women’s group called Mothers Iran’s situation, then, is still fluid as new in Mourning (Madaran-e Azadar).10 To com- developments unfold. The prospect, especially memorate their lost children and also demand in the medium and long terms, seems to be the release of the arrested ones, mothers of mar- promising and hopeful. The growing quest 8 tyrs and political prisoners hold weekly rallies in for democracy is finally becoming intertwined with women’s rights. This is indicative of a 2 CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of paradigm shift in Iran’s political culture and All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted intellectual discourse. In the background of the by the UN General Assembly in 1979. Currently, 185 latest changes in gender politics in Iran, even countries - over ninety percent of the members of the Ahmadinejad, regardless of how long his sec- United Nations - are party to the Convention. During ond term may last, has to show some positive the reform oriented presidency of Mohamad Khatami changes in his gender policies. In an attempt (1997-2005), CEDAW was passed in parliament in 2003, to mend his badly damaged image among his albeit with several reservations. But the Guardian Council own populist base and prevent further loss of blocked its ratification and the final decision was left support, Ahmadinejad may feel compelled to upon another body, the Expediency Council. The latter appease the female members of his constituency has kept it shelved since then and the hardliners in power by a few women-friendly gestures. have not even tried to reconsider this convention. At the same time, ordinary women, young 3 The Guardian Council is composed of six clerics and old, as well as feminist activists, continue appointed by the unelected supreme leader and six jurists to take part in protests and civil disobedience in selected by the head of the judiciary for approval by the different parts of Tehran and other major cit- Majlis. This powerful body vets legislation, political ies. Advocates of women’s rights and civil and candidates and election results. human rights are faced now with an increasingly 4 For information on this coalition see: http://www. brutal suppression by the growingly unpopular feministschool.com/spip.php?article2461 and illegitimate government that is backed by a military-clerical alliance. The main subject 5 Visit their Web sites at: of discussion among the Iranian women activ- http://www.sign4change.info/english/spip.php?article18 ists at present is how to integrate women’s http://zanschool.net/english/spip.php?rubrique3 demands with the broader quest for reform and http://zanschool.net/campaign/ democracy in the face of increasing repression. 6 For more information and documentation on these They are seeking ways to continue rendering a campaigns, see Nayereh Tohidi “The Women’s Move- feminist intervention in the current democracy ment and Feminism in Iran: A Global Perspective,” in movement in order to assure that its direction Women’s Movements in a Global Era edited by Amrita Basu, is toward a nonviolent, nonsectarian, pluralis- Westview Press, forthcoming, and also Rochelle Terman, tic, and egalitarian future. This is a daunting “The Contemporary Iranian Women’s Rights Movement,” struggle, yet also an exciting and inspiring pro- Women Living Under Muslim Laws, (forthcoming). cess, from which global feminism and especially 7 See, for example: women activists in Muslim majority countries http://www.feministschool.com/english/spip. can learn many new lessons. php?rubrique5 http://www.meydaan.com/english/default.aspx

8 On arrested women activists and the conditions of Notes women prisoners, see the following report by Shadi Sadr, 1 For studies on the history of the women’s move- a prominent feminist lawyer written after her own release ment in Iran, see for instance: Eliz Sanasarian. The from Evin prison: http://www.meydaan.com/Showar- Women’s Rights Movement in Iran (New York: Praeger, ticle.aspx?arid=883 1982); Parvin Paidar. Women and the Political Process in For more information on imprisoned women journal- Twentieth Century Iran (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- ists and other activists, see: http://wluml.org/english/ versity Press, 1995); Nikki Keddie. Modern Iran: Roots newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-565012 and Results of Revolution (New Haven: Yale University 9 See the witness report at: Press, 2003); and Janet Afary. The Iranian Constitu- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8119713.stmn tional Revolution (New York: Columbia University 10 Visit their Web site at: Press, 1996). http://www.mournfulmothers.blogfa.com/ 9 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

Quiet Leadership and Pressure from Below: Women’s Participation in Iranian Public Life Norma Claire Moruzzi, Associate Professor, Political Science, Gender & Women’s Studies, and History, University of Illinois, Chicago

The Present Crisis For observers of the present situation in Women have been politically active throughout Iran, especially those in the United States where modern Iranian history. Women were present media coverage and scholarship on Iran since the during the street protests against the Shah in the Revolution has been severely limited, this very 1979 Revolution. This is one reason Ayatollah public presence of women has been a surprise. Khomeini himself defended women’s voting For those of us who have been able to travel back rights in the new Islamic Republic, when some and forth to Iran and interact with individu- conservative clergy wanted to rescind women’s als and civil society groups during the past ten suffrage, and even though Khomeini had opposed years, it is not surprising. Despite the very seri- women being given the right to vote under the ous limitations on Iranian women’s legal equal- Shah. But he said that now women had earned ity (especially regarding their testimony in court the right to vote through their participation in and their rights under the family laws regarding the politics of the Revolution, and no one had marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance), the right to try to take it away from them. His women’s social progress has been impressive. intervention ended any real question of a return Iranian women may be second-class citizens, but to all male suffrage and has become the recurrent they are active citizens; women vote, drive, work, model of male political leaders’ reluctance to go to school, are present in the streets and in the recognize Iranian women’s demands until they Parliament, and are fully active members of civil are pushed to do so by the activism of their own society. They claim those rights to which they female constituents. are legally entitled, and they continue to struggle Women’s presence as a social group became polit- to increase the scope of their rights. Particularly ically significant in 1997 during the first election since the reformist period of 1997 to 2005, recent of President Khatami. During that election, which Iranian history has been a continuous experience saw a participation rate of nearly 80 percent and of immediate short-term crises and long-term with Khatami receiving nearly 70 percent of the optimism. Women’s social progress and their votes, a distinct “gender gap” appeared in the vot- ongoing engagement with public culture are the ing results. In that election, and in the elections main foundations for that belief in positive future since then, women have consistently been strong development. supporters of reformist candidates and policies. In the most recent presidential election, women’s Women’s Social and Material Condition formal involvement in the process was evident If women’s participation in this current move- both in Zahra Rahnavard’s unprecedented pub- ment is different from their participation in lic campaigning for her husband, Mir-Hossein the 1979 Revolution and before, it is because Mousavi, and in the transparent influence wom- Iranian society is different, and most of these en’s groups had on the political platforms of both differences are actually the product of the poli- Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the two reform- cies of the Islamic Republic. This difference ist candidates. Since the announcement of the has suddenly become very visible to the West, official results, women have been fully involved even though it has been obvious in Iran for and visible in street protests and public actions quite some time. Despite the very paternalistic against a government that is no longer perceived and patriarchal rhetoric of the state, its social as legitimate. policies have changed women’s material condi- 10 tions, enabling them to be active participants in Republic. Some reference to key statistical indica- national life. tors is illuminating. Since the early years of the Islamic Republic, the state has been pressured by its own female Literacy constituents to ameliorate glaring gender injustic- In 1980, the literacy rate in Iran was only 49 es (this is not necessarily quite the same as gender percent of the population, and while 60 percent inequalities). Because of consistent, active pres- of men were literate, only 38 percent of women sure from elites and ordinary women (who, for were. So not only were a minority of Iranians able instance, were incorporated into the very success- to read and write, but a significant gender gap ful rural health workers volunteer program1), the existed in literacy rates between men and women material conditions of the majority of women and (as well as between school attendance rates among girls have improved even though their legal posi- boys and girls). Since the Revolution, literacy tion remains explicitly unequal. Secular-affiliated rates have risen considerably, driven in part by feminists have pressed for women’s rights (perhaps mandatory, free public education for both boys most notably in the mass protests against impo- and girls and the sex-segregation of elementary sition of mandatory hijab after the Revolution and secondary schools (which removed the objec- and in the more recent One Million Signatures tions of conservative religious families against Campaign to reform the Constitution), although sending their daughters to be educated in a “cor- like other secular activists in Iran, they have not rupting” environment; the same danger is not been particularly successful. perceived in an all-girls school staffed by women). But “Islamist” feminists, or now more appro- By 2000, the national literacy rate was 75 per- priately termed “reformist” feminists in the cent, including 83 percent of men and nearly Iranian context, were already active participants 70 percent of women; not only have the basic in the project of the new state so it was harder rates increased, but the literacy gender gap has to justify excluding their demands and influence. also decreased. In the key demographic cohort of They successfully pushed for practical policy young people aged 15-24, literacy rates in 2000 remedies to ordinary women’s heartfelt concerns were 94 percent overall, including 96 percent for including war-widows’ loss of their children’s cus- men and 91 percent for women.3 In the past nine tody to male relatives during the Iran-Iraq war, years, the rates have increased even more, and the institutionalization of a wages-for-housework now the literacy gender gap for young people has estimate to be included in divorce settlements to essentially disappeared (to such an extent that protect wives from frivolous husband-initiated President Ahmadinejad has proposed quotas for divorces, and formal administrative barriers to the women’s entrance to university, where women are registration of marriages before age 18 as a way to now in the majority). encourage families not to marry their daughters off at the legal age of nine. Women’s issues also Fertility were included within the scope of public health A similar story emerges in the population growth and children’s concerns, which were often less rate. In the 1950s and 1960s, Iran had a typi- controversial. cally high population growth rate of 3.1 percent. Despite Iranian women’s legal inequality, the That started to come down during the 1970s, key indicators of their social well-being (women’s but in 1977 it was still 2.7 percent. After the literacy, women’s literacy compared to men’s, Revolution, pro-natalist policies and other factors fertility, age of marriage, public presence) have (the closing of universities and disruption of the improved tremendously since the Revolution job market) meant that lots of women had babies. and are actually quite good according to recent By 1987, the population growth rates shot up statistics.2 Iran has become a modern, integrated to 3.9 percent, one of the highest in the world. society, and this has happened under the Islamic Given the government’s commitment to policies 11 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

like free, mandatory childhood education and tests is consistent with their active participation basic healthcare, this was a problem. Consultation in Iranian social life. among numerous stakeholders including wom- en’s groups, public health and medical practitio- The Campaign ners, policy makers, and the clergy resulted in a Two things were distinctive about women’s par- remarkable change in family planning policy that ticipation in this last election. For the first time in included available contraception and mandatory Iran, both secular and reformist women’s groups sex education classes for engaged couples, all of collaboratively produced a joint political plat- which were religiously endorsed. By 1997, the form and presented it to the candidates for their population growth rate was 1.5 percent, equiva- response. Within the context of Iranian politics, lent to the most developed countries.4 So, in ten this was an extraordinary achievement. One years, the population growth rate in Iran went of the biggest political taboos has been against from one of the highest in the world to among the secular and religious activists working togeth- lowest, a public policy success that has not been er, even when their interests are quite similar. matched by any other country (and was achieved For instance, both secular and Islamist feminist without overt state repression like the one-child groups have been working for many of the same policy in China). goals for years: improved legal rights for women, especially regarding marriage, divorce, and child Mean Age of Marriage custody; improved opportunities for education Although the legal age of marriage for “women” and work; more respect for women in both pri- is nine years old, the mean age at first marriage vate and public life. Secular feminists tended to for women is in the mid-twenties. While the work for these goals under the motto of “gender mean age at first marriage for men has remained equality,” while religious feminists tended to use almost the same for thirty years (it was 25 in the motto of “gender justice,” a seemingly minor 1967 and 25 in 1997, although it dropped difference in semantics that symbolized larger slightly in the intervening years), the mean age differences of political alignment, strategy, and at first marriage for women was 18 in 1967 and personal affiliation. has been climbing slowly but steadily ever since. But in the months leading up to the Among other things, this change signifies that June election, and after experiencing the the age difference between married couples has harsh repressive policies and attitudes of the been reduced, increasing the likelihood of “part- Ahmadinejad administration, the women’s and ner marriage” rather than a more traditionalist feminist groups realized they had to overcome model of the husband as pater familias. The dis- their problems and work together to achieve crepancy of age at first marriage between urban their goals. Thirty-four Islamist (reformist) and and rural women has also almost disappeared, secular feminist groups came together to form a reflection of the increased integration of the Convergence of Women. Not only was this social conditions and basic norms for the entire the first time women’s groups had been able national population.5 to mobilize together in this way, but it pro- In the thirty years since the Revolution, vided a unique example of collective secular- Iranian women as a group have become more reformist mobilization within the Iranian social educated, marry later, and have fewer children. and political landscape. The Convergence put Differences in life opportunities and expectations together a common platform, and they inter- between urban and rural women have decreased. viewed representatives of the opposition can- Statistically, women’s educational and health didates to determine which candidate would indicators are nearly equivalent to men’s. They be most consistently committed to women’s work, drive, vote, are elected to local and national rights.6 In the end, the Convergence approved government office, and are present in public space both Karroubi and Mousavi as acceptable can- and public life. So, their visible presence in the didates, but stated that Mousavi’s campaign 12 recent political demonstrations and public pro- plan was better and more comprehensive. Mousavi himself stated that the interaction regime seems to have opened up new spheres for with the Convergence had made him realize popular action. that he needed to incorporate women’s con- Ordinary people have re-appropriated the cerns more fully into his campaign platform; resistant practices of the Revolution, which they pushed him to define his leadership on had been symbolically co-opted by the hard- women’s issues more explicitly. line factions of the regime. Women have been The second unprecedented change in wom- involved in all aspects of this renewed public en’s participation in the campaign was Zahra presence: in the street marches, where their pres- Rahnavard’s very public presence. She was not ence (including the presence of older and more just a campaign wife; she is a very well-known traditional women) helped ensure a less violent and respected public figure in her own right (the atmosphere; in the evening rooftop shouting of joke used to be that Mousavi was referred to as the Revolutionary-era slogan “Allah-o Akbar,” in “the husband of Zahra Rahnavard”). But having which women were often the ones to prod their her appear publicly campaigning with and for other family members to use the private roof her husband was a first in Iran and emphasized space of their own homes for political purposes; that this was unashamedly a “two-career” couple. and in the informal actions ranging from writing As the former chancellor of Al-Zahra University, street graffiti (the green V), to writing blogs, to the only women’s university in Iran (there are engaging personally with individual members some women’s seminaries in Qom but no other of the police and Revolutionary Guards (a form women’s universities or colleges), Rahnavard was of quiet personal diplomacy that may actually quietly associated with the Islamic feminist move- be more effective in societies like Iran’s where ment in Iran and with feminist reforms sponsored women are active public citizens while still being by Islamist feminist working groups during the regarded as gendered subjects in need of social reformist parliaments of Khatami’s presidency. protection). Despite the immediate repression Her presence gave tangible support to Mousavi’s of much of the campaign organization of the claim that he would pay attention to women’s reformist candidates, the mass arrests and mass concerns and issues. trials displayed the absolute dominance of the ruling faction of the government; it is completely The Aftermath clear to the general population that the previous When the official election results were conventions of legitimacy and authority are no announced, with suspicious speed and incredible longer valid. numbers, Iranians responded with the largest Across the ideological spectrum, the Iranian street mobilizations seen since the Revolution.7 women’s movement is now even more closely The official results, the manner in which they identified with the reformist political move- were announced, and the government’s heavy- ment, precisely because Mousavi (and to some handed response to its critics have resulted in the extent Karroubi) openly backed activist women’s de-legitimization not only of the election process concerns. Even women Basiji (members of the itself, but also in the leadership authority of the volunteer militia that is the enforcement arm current regime, both elected (Ahmadinejad) of social control for the regime hardliners), who and unelected (Ayatollah Khamenei). Iranian one would presume to be among the strongest elections may have been limited in scope (in supporters of Ahmadinejad, expressed disagree- terms of the power of the vetting process and ment before the election with the president’s the leverage of the state-run media), but they policies regarding family and marriage law and were perceived as real arenas for competition other gender issues.8 It was not at all clear that within a limited range. Now, that presump- these supposedly bedrock factions of conserva- tion has been called into question and, with it, tive support were going to vote for Ahmadinejad, the expectations of the population for political and the violent repression of the post-election participation. Ironically, in attempting to close marches shocked the nation. But the success of off possibilities for political engagement, the the Convergence in uniting secular feminist and 13 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

reformist women’s groups into an effective lob- 2 See Norma Claire Moruzzi and Fatemeh Sadeghi, bying platform has been a double-edged sword, ”Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire: Young Iranian at least in the short-term. Along with other Women Today,” Middle East Report 241, Winter 2006, targeted groups (reformist political leaders, influ- 22-28, for a fuller discussion of these social indicators. ential press editors and journalists, researchers, 3 Moruzzi and Sadeghi, 23. students, private-sector entrepreneurs), women 4 Moruzzi and Sadeghi, 23. have been arrested and pressured. Arrests have included both high-profile activists and more 5 In 1967, the mean age of marriage at first marriage anonymous young people, whose situation in for urban women was 19, for rural women it was 17; by prison may actually be worse (there are wide- 1997 the mean age for both urban and rural women was spread accusations of systematic rape of young 22. See Moruzzi and Sadeghi, 25. people—both women and men—in the political 6 See the English language feminist website Mey- 9 detention centers). daan and their online archives for good coverage of the The situation in Iran is in flux; the regime is cooperation among groups and the development of the now at odds with itself, and the crisis of author- Convergence joint platform before the election. ity will not be resolved by show-trial confessions 7 See Ali Ansari, ed., Daniel Berman and Thomas or Ahmadinejad’s attempts to appoint a few Rintoul, researchers, “Preliminary Analysis of the Voting ultra-conservative women to his Cabinet. These Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election” Chatham rhetorical flourishes are now irrelevant. The split Hose and the Institute of Iranian Studies, University of in Iran now is not between the religious and the St. Andrews, June 21, 2009. secular, or the conservative and the reformist, or the rich and the poor. It is between those who 8 See Fatemeh Sadeghi, “Foot Soldiers of the Islamic believe in the rule of law and those who believe Republic’s ‘Culture of Modesty’,” Middle East Report 251, in their right (whether divine or arbitrary) to hold Spring 2009. power. This split exists within all factions of the 9 Meydaan provided very good coverage of the arrest population, including among women, the clergy, off the street of one of the most prominent feminist and the working class. An ever-smaller fraction of activists, Shadi Sadr, who was literally pulled away from the elite and their supporters are trying to main- her friends and shoved into a car by a coordinated effort tain power against everyone else, an untenable among several cars of plainclothes police (i.e. not the solution in a post-revolutionary state with a long regular police but members of one a number of shadowy history of pressure from below. intelligence/security/enforcement groups). She has been released on bail, but is awaiting trial. Karroubi sent a letter dated July 29, 2009 to Raf- Notes sanjani, demanding an inquiry into the rape allegations. 1 See Homa Hoodfar, “Activism under the Radar: Various officials have responded that no sexual abuse took Volunteer Women Health Workers in Iran,” Middle East place in prisons supervised by the Judiciary, leaving open Report 250, Spring 2009, 56-60. the question of actions in the irregular centers (like the now closed Kahrizak) that are not official.

14 Women in Iran’s Green Movement: Their Role in the 2009 Presidential Election Protests

Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, Former Member of Iranian Parliament and Visiting Scholar, Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Boston

The Crucial Role of Women in Elections of social, political, and legal rights. This aware- Women are agents of change in Iran and, as ness occurred simultaneously with the creation such, they have particular influence in any elec- of an atmosphere of gender equality, as women tion through their votes. This phenomenon was have played an important role in the Green seen for the first time during the presidential Movement. election of 1997, when Mohammad Khatami Excluding incumbent Ahmadinejad, all the attracted women’s votes using campaign slogans candidates in the 2009 presidential election that promised to respect women and improve promised to promote and elevate the status of their situation in Iran. Following the 1997 elec- women in Iran by giving women greater oppor- tion, women acted not merely as voters but also tunities to be involved in public policy decision- as candidates at the first municipal councils, gain- making and by changing discriminatory laws. ing 16 percent of all seats, a landside considering The reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi past results. made a set of campaign promises, supported by During the reform movement from 1997 to his wife, Zahra Rahnavard. Iranian journalist 2004, certain restrictions against women were Kourosh Ziabari believes that Rahnavard “created relaxed. However, during the post-reform move- a vigorous enthusiasm and zealousness among ment of Ahmadinejad’s presidency, women have the young women in Iran.”2 Many also believe faced many challenges in the social arena. Every that Rahnavard has become “a symbol for the day, Iranian women face disrespectful actions by women’s rights movement.”3 the moral police. They stop and harass random Women were energized by the candidates’ women on the streets about their hair, makeup, promises for greater gender equality. During the scarves, and other clothing, sometimes arrest- weeks leading up to the June presidential election, ing them for perceived infractions against Iran’s the streets and alleys of Iran’s major cities were Islamic dress code. Instead of changing discrimi- filled with young women. These women had sev- natory laws, the Parliament has passed more patri- eral motivations for their involvement: “Iranian archal ones, which only serve to further infringe young women supported reformists, not only to upon women’s sense of freedom and equality. show their hatred of Ahmadinejad’s misogynist A number of female Members of the 7th & 8th policies and his government’s social restrictions Parliament (MPs) have also spoken out against on women’s appearance in the public sphere, but women’s rights. For instance, MP Eshrat Shaegh, also to seek social, economical, political and legal referring to female runaways and prostitutes, said reforms.”4 “If we execute 10 of these street women, we will Today, the green wave encompasses the whole no longer face this issue.” She added, “Women country. After Mousavi received the news of the have no value without their families…”1 Women’s fraudulent vote count in favor of Ahmadinejad rights activists have also been facing intimidation, on the day of the election, he announced his vic- detention, and prosecution. tory and said that any news to the contrary was a lie and a fraud. Just as Mousavi had predicted, Women’s Actions and Demands during Ahmadinejad claimed to be the winner, perform- the Presidential Campaign ing an electoral coup d’état. As a result of the hardships women have faced Immediately, the security and military forces all these years, there is an awareness of their lack arrested a number of reformist leaders, includ- 15 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

ing many female political activists and jour- Movement. On this day, women played an nalists. In response, presidential candidates important role by making a show of resistance Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi protested, calling in front of the police and by protecting young on the Iranian people for a continuation of their men from being captured by the police. They street protests to demand that the government chanted, “Here is our land, our city, our annul the fraudulent results and hold a new sidewalk, and we won’t leave it. You should election. Mousavi declared that “protesting to leave.” Women of all ages resisted – especially lies and fraud is your right.” He continued, say- old women. Sara Farhang wrote, “While many ing, “the ultimate goal of the election fraud is young women turn out for protests, the pres- not just to impose an administration that people ence of older women at these events is also do not want; it imposes a new political life on easily observable. One woman in her fifties the country.” explained that the main reason she attends pro- tests is to ‘lend support to the younger genera- Iranian Women Take to the Streets as tion and to try to prevent any violence targeted Agents of Resistance at them.’”7 These women played a leading role Aside from women’s active role during the elec- and, through their resistance, are keeping the tion campaign, women have also been on the Green Movement alive. Thus, women have front lines of protests and resistance. They came been agents of resistance. out to the streets in great numbers. They fight Women have developed several initiatives the police and the Basij with stones. They have to keep the movement on the streets, including been killed, detained, arrested, and prosecuted. a group called Mothers in Mourning. These They have gained a sense of courage and inspire women, many of whom lost their children when men to continue with their resistance as well. they were arrested during the protest movement, Women protested at first to request an annul- announced that the group would gather at Laleh ment of the election and called for new elections. Park in Tehran every Saturday and sit together They announced that Ahmadinejad was not their in silence from 7 to 8 PM until they got news of president and supported Mousavi. their missing and detained children. The first of One protestor, Parisa, told CNN, “This these Laleh Park gatherings was promptly sub- regime is against all humanity, more specifically jected to a brutal crackdown by the police and the against all women.”5 Many men say that since Basij, who beat and arrested the women. Despite they “are not able to do any thing, maybe these this crackdown, at least 500 mothers were able to women would able to bring freedom back to gather there. They chose Laleh Park because of the country.” Iranian women have also prov- its proximity to the location where Neda Agha- en themselves as agents of courage, inspiring Soltan was killed. Many of these women have also their family and friends to continue protesting. been outside Evin prison to protest and request Khadijeh Moqadam, a women’s rights activ- the release of their detained family members. ist, said to RoozOnline, “The fact that women In addition, another group of mothers calling were not passive supporters and they have been themselves Mothers for Peace have been commu- in front line to defend their rights, some male nicating with the human rights unit and citizen- protesters chanted that spineless men have not ship rights center of the judiciary system and the joined us while women have joined the protest minority of the 8th Parliament to follow up on the movement.”6 situation of the political prisoners who have been Women have been protesting since June 12 detained during the turbulent aftermath of the despite the heavily militarized situation; this is a June 12 election. sign of victory for the Green Movement. On July 9, 2009, the tenth anniversary of Why are Women at the Front Line of the the attack on the Tehran University dormi- Green Movement tory, thousands of people held a rally to com- One characteristic of the Green Movement is 16 memorate the day and to support the Green that women play a crucial role – on the front line. The main reason for this is that they have are women from varying social strata: working faced many restrictions and a general disregard class, wealthy families, religious, secular, young, for their social rights. The lawyer, Mehrangiz and old.11 Kar explained, “Women have learned how to Iran’s leaders think they can successfully con- face the government agents that restrict their trol the country through a government brought social rights, such as the dress code condition. to power by a coup d’état. But they have never Also, they have learned the weak aspects of the been more wrong. A young Iranian woman regime. So, through social channels, they have captures this dedicated spirit in a letter cited by gained political experience. This regime restricts Roger Cohen of the New York Times: social freedom more than anything. Particularly, “I will participate in the demonstrations Ahmadinejad’s government’s radicalism forces tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. more restrictions on women. Therefore, to end Maybe I will be one of the people who is such radicalism, women have engaged at the elec- going to be killed. I’m listening to all my tion campaign and post election protest.” favorite music. I wrote these random sen- Women have discovered they are not alone in tences for the next generation so that they their personal experiences because many women know we were not just emotional under peer have been disrespected. They were all seeking pressure. So they know that we did everything to change this intolerable situation peacefully, we could to create a better future for them. So through their votes, so they were excited and they know that our ancestors surrendered to actively campaigning. Once, when they saw Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to that their voices were stolen by the government, despotism. This note is dedicated to tomor- instead of losing hope and sitting at home, they row’s children.”12 went out to the streets to demand their votes be counted. When the militia cracked down on Notes protesters, they acted aggressively to release their 1 http://www.wfafi.org/E-ZanVol7.htm fellow Iranians from the hands of the paramili- 2 Iran: “The Barrier is Broken and Women are tary and the police, fighting back and refusing Throwing Rocks” online at http://www.allheadlinenews. to be beaten. com/articles/7015603210#ixzz0KzuELIvF&C Through this new experience, women discov- 3 http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015603 ered a sense of courage by acting with a collective 210#ixzz0KzsssuGy&C spirit. They chanted, “Do not be afraid, do not 4 http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt. be afraid, we all are in this together.” Women shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564900 did not seem to give up. “Iranian women are very 5 http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/19/ powerful, and they want their freedom,”8 said one iran.protests.women/ woman in Tehran. 6 http://www.roozonline.com/persian/news/news- item/article/2009/july/07//-fd5ce2b413.html These women are putting their lives on the line to save the little that is left of their republic. The 7 http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47371 majority has insisted on non-violent resistance, 8 http://www.glass-castle.org/blog/2009/06/women- and-irans-green-movement.htmlhttp://www.philly.com/ protecting both the riot police and the common inquirer/world_us/20090625_Women_move_to_fore- people from being killed or beaten. front_of_Iran_opposition_movement.html “The sheer number of females that have either 9 http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015603 been hurt or killed show that women were in 210#ixzz0KzqPa7Qo&C the front line of the recent demonstrations,” 10 http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/701560 says Kianoosh Sanjari, a male Iranian student 3210#ixzz0KzqPa7Qo&C and blogger who has been arrested, jailed, and 11 http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt. tortured merely for protesting against the govern- shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564900 9 ment. He added, “The barrier is broken; women 12 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/ now feel empowered not only to throw rocks, but opinion/23cohenweb.html?_ to make an impact on society as a whole.”10 They r=1&pagewanted=2&th&emc=th 17 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

The June Elections and the Change in Political Culture Jaleh Lackner-Gohari, Physician and Vice President, innerCHANGE associates international (iCHai), Vienna, Austria

At some point during the course of events sur- realize that there was no political or social body rounding the June 2009 Iranian presidential other than themselves that was able to address elections, it became clear that something in the their particular demands. They realized the truth political culture of Iran had changed. The culture in the statement, “Nobody can scratch my back that emerged at this pivotal point in Iranian his- except the nails of my own fingers.” tory can be understood as the result of strategies As the women’s movement moved toward self- developed and refined by the Iranian women’s empowerment, they won important victories and movement. confirmed that this was a powerful new direction The methods of political activism developed for Iranian women. Simultaneously, the national by Iranian women’s activists and used by them political change inspired hope for change. When during the election season are new in their effi- Mohammad Khatami ran for president in 1997 ciency and practicability. In order to achieve on a reform agenda, women contributed signifi- their goals, Iranian women have worked to cantly and spontaneously to his campaign. In the develop effective instruments capable of affecting absence of a political party, the role of Iranian change in an extremely non-favorable political women was critical to Khatami’s success. environment. In 1998, women took their legitimate demands The strategy of the current Iranian women’s onto the street in a series of demonstrations, movement is unique in its composition and including the “7 Tir Square” demonstrations. texture, having no similar precedent in recent These rallies were met with violent clamp-downs Iranian history. Its basic structure and method by Iranian police and were followed by a wave are not based on remote theories or concepts of arrests and imprisonments. Furious about foreign to Iranian society but, instead, have been “criminalization” of their peaceful demands, derived from Iranian women’s own longstand- Iranian women saw that this strategy implicated ing experience of social and legal discrimination, very high costs without delivering the desired both at the individual and the collective level. results. The leader of the women’s movement Iranian women’s unique experiences have made agreed that it was imperative to adjust the strat- them acutely aware of the underlying problems in egy without losing their goals. The new strate- Iranian society, and this knowledge equips them gies had to be suitable to work under the existing with tools necessary to formulate a new approach hostile conditions. that recognizes and addresses these problems. The Out of this, the idea of the One Million approach is an inclusive one; it does not set out Signatures Campaign was born. The creative to make a rift between modern advancement and matrix to fight the increasing obstacles, and valuable traditional heritage. Instead, it main- to find ways to maneuver around them, was tains the cultural-religious value systems without developed to counter the mounting pressure for depriving Iranian society of progress and modern women on personal, societal, and, particularly, aspirations. legal levels. The Campaign hoped to fight legal The lucid development of the Iranian women’s codes such as “The No-Choice Dress-Code” and movement over the past few years also grew out a multitude of similar restraining codes pertain- of the realization that Iranian women needed to ing to personal and social conduct that required take matters into their own hands if they wanted women, who now represented a new category of to achieve change. After years of expectations that aspiring Iranian citizens, to submit to outdated non-gender-oriented political work would lead rules and gender restrictions. Although women 18 to the place they wanted to be, women began to in Iran had risen to high levels of education, social participation, and financial independence, activists heard from their clients and contacts was the discriminatory legal situation imposed upon later included in the work-in-progress concept of women, wives, and mothers created a new puzzle the vision. The familiar language and the agenda for Iranian women. Once again, the strategy struck a chord with people because it was part of needed to adapt to address these new rising barri- the reality that many of them had experienced. A ers. The prospect of resolving any of these issues fruitful dialogue based on grassroots participation within the existing official framework was nearly evolved while the professional skills and insights of impossible. Women had to, once more, “scratch the Campaign activists maintained the profound their backs” themselves. understanding of legal and societal problems. It was not difficult for the One Million Prior to the June 12 presidential election, the Signatures Campaign to foresee that their vision Iranian “Coalition of Women” worked to unite would not be tolerated, let alone promoted, by women and women’s groups with varied social the prevailing rigid concept of the regime. They outlooks to formulate common demands. This knew the path they needed to take required new consolidation of women’s rights groups was an ideas. In order to approach their goals, it was unprecedented step. They also worked to bridge crucial to examine their current resources. They the gap that had developed between Iranian found that empowering resources existed in the women and their émigré compatriots. Almost daily lives of women, “natural” wells into which unnoticed, their agenda had become the agenda they could tap. No official channels or permis- of Iranian women abroad. In the months leading sion were required to convert these resources up to the election, leaders of the women’s move- into dynamic instruments on the move. First, ment reached out to all demographic groups, they relied on the power of peers, assuming that particularly youth, to join together all those if they could mobilize a few women to join the aiming to affect change through democratic cause, their friends would follow suit and become participation. like-minded allies. Common experience had cre- The methods perfected by the women’s ated an almost non-verbalized system of com- movement had a transforming effect on the munication among many of the women activists. political atmosphere surrounding the June elec- It was now possible to share conclusions in a tion. In the protests before and after the elec- non-excited way, and to see how change, based tion, protesters had a female face, Iranian style: on maturity and reason, could be brought about. they were demanding, yet peaceful; non-con- On a different level, the new “human” element frontational, yet assertive; and decisive persever- of the women’s movement had an important ance was present at all times. In the aftermath impact, building trust among the “endangered” of the disputed election results, the same types activists and facilitating fruitful negotiations. of non-traditional methods were useful. “Where Beyond peer groups, families were mobilized to is My Vote?” became a new call for civic par- network with each other and generate support for ticipation. the Iranian women’s movement. This was very Iranian-born women living in the European helpful, particularly in cases of activist arrests and diaspora followed the progress and pitfalls of imprisonments. women inside Iran. Many diaspora Iranian Iranian women also developed important women actively supported the democratic rhetoric skills to cope with difficult questions demands of their peers in Iran. There was a and issues. It was equally important for women “Where is My Vote?” movement in almost every activists to be able to successfully communicate European country. Media campaigns were initi- their vision of change, and the overall need for it, ated to publicly address the phases of events in to people from all social strata of Iranian society. Iran.1 In many countries, Iranian women met Because the new language was apt to the local with members of Parliament and political per- experience and need, it spoke to people in a way sonalities to inform them about the complicated they could understand. There was no doctrine, but developments in Iran and to explain how the its basis was a sharing of views. Much of what the international community could generate sup- 19 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

port for human rights and citizenship develop- It is important to recognize the role that the ment in Iran. Iranian women’s movement played in bringing Tragic losses of young lives on the streets of about a new and mature school of social struggle in Iran, caused by indiscriminate violence and armed Iran today. Their strategy is specially formulated aggression against peaceful demonstrators, created to address the specific problems they aim to fix sorrow across the world. The “mothers” of those and makes change possible in the face of a rigid victims set out to commemorate peacefully the system of arbitrary rule. The women activists in tragic incidences in Laleh Park. Their mourning Iran created a horizontal model of exchange and ceremony was broken up, however, and some dialogue in a country of top-down fanatical orders were arrested. Again, Iranian women living in and prescriptions. They reconnected Iranians many European countries set out to hold regular abroad intimately with Iran proper, their home vigils, called Laleh Park Vigils, to mourn the lives country. The credit for working on a promising lost. Shirin Ebadi and other “Nobel women” democratic concept for a future Iran undoubtedly proclaimed July 25, 2009 as International Day of goes to the wise, flexible, innovative, and caring Protest to show opposition to the events in Iran. Iranian women. On this day, a green scroll signed by thousands of protesters across the world proclaiming, “He Notes is not my President” was draped across the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 1 http://united4iran.org/

Reporting Chaos Pari Esfandiari, Founder and President, Eclectic Woman – IranDokht

During the first week of July 2009, the protest Through what kind of media, politics, and cul- movement in Iran that had started after the ture are we depicting her? June presidential elections continued to unfold Although these are not necessarily new ques- in front of the world’s watchful gaze. At the tions for Iranian women, the recent events same time, a Hollywood production entitled The in Iran highlight their significance. It was Stoning of Soraya M. opened on the big screens. with these questions in mind that I launched The movie depicted Iranian women as voice- IranDokht in 2002, as an online media plat- less victims of their husbands, their communi- form to connect the global community to ties, and the authorities, and displayed powerful Iranian women. images of a woman being brutally stoned to At IranDokht, our coverage of the Iranian death. Meanwhile, TV news reports around election began a few months prior to the June 12 the world relayed real-life images from Iran of poll. As a reporter, one can tell when a story is women as street fighters, chasing and kicking the “hot,” but few anticipated how hot things would Revolutionary Guards, and even throwing stones get in Iran. In the weeks leading up to the elec- at them. tion, there was bombing and unrest, but that was What are we to make of these contradicting nothing compared to the politically hot debates images? Who is the Iranian woman, and where the candidates were engaged in with each other. does she fit in the world? What is the nature As a non-partisan media outlet, IranDokht 20 of her power? Who represents her and how? resisted pressures to support any one candidate and covered all of the campaigns to the best of about who these women were and why they our ability. On June 13, when the world woke up registered knowing they would not be approved. to news of the victory of President Ahmadinejad, The Guardian Council approves the credentials the people referred to it as an alleged coup in Iran. of the candidates. It was interesting to note that IranDokht remained non-partisan, reporting the some of the women candidates’ outlooks were not news as it unfolded. We covered the confusion quite what the authorities wanted to see. Indeed, and then the mass demonstrations that surprised since the Islamic Revolution, a large segment of many around the world. During the election cam- the society – the secular group – has been silenced paign, we believed that a substantial number of and made invisible. people had formed a collective identity and effec- On May 17, four male candidates were tively reclaimed the public space. Therefore, it approved by the Guardian Council to run in was quite predictable that they would not give up the elections. Since each of the four candidates easily and would continue questioning the legiti- had a wife, we wanted to compare the women’s macy of the election results. Demonstrations were backgrounds and discuss their positions on initially exciting for people, but then the events women’s issues. Interviews were arranged with turned dangerous. There were beatings, crack- the potential first ladies and other prominent downs, and arrests. At this point, IranDokht’s women. Jamileh Kadivar, an opinionated politi- position was clear: we stood by the people as they cian in charge of women’s affairs for reformist exercised their right to peaceful demonstration. candidate Mehdi Karroubi, talked to IranDokht To explain how we covered the election, this about the election, its possible outcome, and her paper includes six sections: women as political possible ministerial position. We talked about figures, the women’s coalition, women as vot- the Baha’i religious minority in Iran, and she ers and demonstrators, the global community, emphasized their rights as citizens, acknowledg- communications and the internet, and art and ing that these rights have been violated in the popular culture. past. She also expressed some concern about the vote counting procedure. Throughout the Women as Political Leaders interview, Kadivar was clearly alarmed but also The election saga began with early reports about hopeful for the future. who was registering to run in the presidential Following the disputed election results, elections. Naturally, this raised questions of women politicians participated in demonstra- whether any women would register and whether tions. This soon changed, however, because the the Iranian constitution allows women to seek government proclaimed demonstrations illegal. the country’s highest political office. This debate Faeze Hashemi, former Member of Parliament was not new. At IranDokht, we covered the and daughter of former President Rafsanjani, was issue of women as presidential candidates, as we arrested briefly when she appeared in demonstra- did also in the 2005 presidential elections. We tions. She was later released. believed writing about women could help ignite a chain of events designed to improve women’s The Women’s Coalition position in Iran. In 2009, the idea was not to The election campaigns and protests brought have a female president but to break the taboo. together a broad coalition of women’s orga- At the same time, our editorials covered the views nizations with very different objectives and expressed by the Supreme Leader, the Guardian views. Our editorials followed this develop- Council, key female parliamentarians, and other ment to highlight its significance. Particularly influential figures regarding the female candidacy interesting was the participation of professional and presidency. organizations that usually attract those who Eventually 450 Iranians, including 42 women, either choose not to be politically active or are registered as prospective candidates for the June forbidden by authorities to take part in political presidential elections. We began to ask questions activities, or both. 21 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES FALL 2009

street corner. Her death angered people both Women as Voters and Demonstrators inside Iran and around the world. Iranian author- IranDokht mobilized women to participate in the ities understand the power of the mourning cycle, election by publishing articles about women’s role and exploited this masterfully during Iran’s 1979 in previous elections and how their involvement Islamic Revolution. So, it was not surprising that had changed the outcome. During the election the government banned the public from attend- rallies, Iranian women had a very strong pres- ing Neda’s funeral. ence. News reports indicated that women who participated in election rallies were not particu- The Global Community larly concerned with women’s rights but with the For the first time in an Iranian presidential elec- election results. In addition, we wrote about the tion, the candidates showed interest in voters impact any future president’s policy could have outside the country. We tried to mobilize our on women’s daily lives. audience outside Iran, pointing out that the After the election dispute, reporting became election was close and that their vote mattered. more difficult. Western journalists were arrested Remaining a non-partisan online source, we or, at the very least, warned to stay in their highlighted the importance of this election from hotels and not cover the protest movement. many angles. Opposition media inside the country were After the election, demonstrations inside stopped. Some of our sources inside the country became increasingly dangerous and violent, sup- were not able to work, forcing us to rely on port poured in from outside. Iranians all around citizen journalism. We began receiving huge the world gathered and raised their voices. The amounts of images, videos, reports, and stories most interesting feature of online Internet media of what was happening inside Iran via e-mails is its ability to connect to all parts of the and text messages. On a number of occasions, world. So, it was not surprising to see commen- the government cut off cell phone reception, tary from every corner of the world, including and the Internet was made slow or inaccessible. Japan, Sweden, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Our sources in Iran had to rely on landline Washington, and Los Angeles. phones to tell their stories, and connections There was a great deal of support for the with those outside the country became difficult protestors from the international community, for them. At this point, it was hard to get news starting in Prague where a large crowd gathered in from inside Iran on a regular basis so we had to support of Iran’s Green Movement. They posted be creative by supplementing information from their event on our website, and we received pic- sources inside Iran with Iran’s government- tures of their gathering and displayed them to controlled news sources. our readers. We showed the strong presence of women There was also huge support from human both in election campaigns and the post-election rights activists around the world. There were protests. We showed the diversity of ages. We campaigns to collect signatures in support of showed modern and traditional women next demonstrators, to dispute the outcome of the to each other. We showed women shoulder to election, and to free those who had been shoulder with men in both camps. We showed arrested. fearless, young females as they fought, chased, and kicked the security forces. We showed how Communications and the Internet authorities beat these women as hard as they beat Our coverage of the June election indicated the men. We showed that women were treated as from the very beginning that this campaign equals. Indeed, in this uprising, Iranian women was different from those of the past. It was reclaimed their image. unusually open, communications-sensitive, and By June 20, the uprising had its own fallen tech-savvy. hero, Neda Agha-Soltan. She was killed on that To begin with, we used our website to show 22 day while watching the demonstrations from a the public debates between the candidates. These debates were very new for Iranian audi- Art and Popular Culture ences. Ahmadinejad offered his usual contro- In any country, art and popular culture are very versial style that has served him well in the revealing of the public mood. During the elec- past. In my interview with Kadivar, she criti- tion campaigns in Iran, the popular culture was cized Ahmadinejad’s language and especially the fun, energetic, and vibrant. There were colorful unproven corruption charges he made against slogans on walls everywhere, and chanting was other politicians. She thought it could set a very hopeful and energizing. The green camp’s color low standard and indeed promote a culture of tapped into people’s creative energy and stood unfounded accusations. out at campaign rallies. Women used green in All candidates, knowing their crowds were their outfits, nails, and make-up and adorned young and web-savvy, made an effort to use their faces and hands with green paint. As soon the Internet, including blogs, Facebook pages, as authorities began attacking people, however, YouTube, and other sources. One candidate the mood changed considerably. We received was especially successful at tapping into this artwork from artists around the world expressing new media. Mousavi’s use of the symbolic color their anger. green, the image of him holding hands with his Music is another element indicative of the wife, Zahra Rahnavard, and her colorful outfits national mood. In the days leading up to the elec- all demonstrated a mastery of image-building, tion, candidates used classical national songs. As which were integrated with the campaign’s use soon as attacks at demonstrations started, artists of technology. around the world expressed their feelings through We also covered the nights before the elec- their music and lyrics. We showcased U2’s con- tion as people’s energy was building. Indeed, cert in Spain where Bono sang “Bloody Sunday” it seemed Tehran did not sleep the last two as Farsi lyrics were displayed on a green curtain nights leading up to the election. Crowds were behind him. in the street all night chanting and dancing. For Iran is at a very critical point in its history. Iran’s young population, this was particularly Indeed, history is unfolding. The protest move- exciting. And for many others, this freedom ment has produced a very vibrant and positive was surreal. social movement, but it is still young and frag- It was not surprising to see Iranians using ile. There are internal problems in the country modern communications to their advantage that could be manipulated to produce negative because they are young, educated, and web-savvy. outcomes. At IranDokht, we received e-mail messages, In conclusion, the color green has clearly YouTube links, and reports sent via cell phones, moved beyond Mousavi’s campaign. It is now the social networks, Yahoo groups, and Twitter. We color of protest, a movement that is grassroots, made sure to select reliable information and pres- organic, colorful, fluid, and persistent – all femi- ent it to the world clutter-free. nine characteristics.

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