The war unleashed by Israel and the US against Iran can only mean more suffering and pain than already exists for the country’s women in the near future. Iranian-Canadian human rights activist, Nazanin Afshin-Jam Mackay, speaking on CTV, says that the death of Ayatollah Khamenei signals the end of the Supreme Oppressor, not the Supreme Leader. Women are not shedding tears for him. However, she is concerned that those who might be put in place — and at this moment, it is his son Mojtaba Khamenei — could be no different from the earlier ones and that the US might choose “stability” over real change.
Irrespective of the legality or necessity of this war, the late Ayatollah’s regime had an appalling record when it came to women’s rights. During the last protest by women, many women were killed, maimed and imprisoned, and there is little record of this in official Iranian statistics. The digital blackout to contain the protest led to thousands of women who, thanks to intense gender discrimination, were pushed out of the formal job market also being shut out from their online jobs. Ever since the Revolution of 1979, Iran’s women have had a very raw deal. They have been consistently invisibilised and rendered economically dependent on male relatives.
On the rare occasion women have protested, the State framed the protests as being anti-Islam when, in reality, this had little to do with religion. But this enabled a regressive State to use this as a weapon of surveillance and punishment to deprive women of their agency. Women simply demanding their rights have always been framed as confrontational, inviting further repression. Yet, despite all the violence, women have repeatedly tried to create their own space, often at their own peril.
If this war does bring about regime change, it is highly unlikely that women will be in a better place. Their rights are not likely to be on top of the agenda of either the US or Israel.
UN Women, concerned that the now-expanded conflict is placing women and girls at immediate risk, says, “Women and girls everywhere have the right to live in safety and in peace, free from violence and discrimination. Escalating hostilities disrupt essential services, increase the risk of gender-based violence, and further constrain and endanger women-led organizations and first responders.”
After the 1979 Revolution, women were forced to retreat behind the veil, and men were given greater powers in inheritance laws. Under the guise of protecting women, the State stepped up surveillance and the marriage age was lowered to nine years. It is now 13 years, which still amounts to child abuse. Women cannot go abroad without a male chaperone: the evidence of one man is equal to that of two women in a court of law, and any failure to adhere to strict clothing rules invites a beating at the hands of the moral police.
Anita Anand, a development and communication specialist who has worked for years in Afghanistan, says, “While women and civil society have cause for celebration after Khamenei’s elimination, the political, social and economic system has to change as well. In a slightly parallel situation, when the US and international forces attacked Afghanistan after 9/11, the country saw enormous freedom and growth for Afghan women and the blossoming of civil society. But that all changed overnight when the Taliban returned in 2021. We can only be cautiously optimistic about Iran’s future and that of its women.”
The views expressed are personal
