Feminism

By Roja Fazaeli, Trinity College Dublin | – Iran’s Islamic Republic continues to violently suppress ongoing pro-democracy protests, which broke out in September in response to the killing of a young woman who had been arrested for not wearing a proper head covering. According to the NGO Iran Human Rights at least 458 protesters have […]

Authoritarianism

Iran executes first Protester as Human Rights Abuses come under International Scrutiny

The Conversation

By Sahar Maranlou, University of Essex | – Iran’s execution of protester Mohsen Shekari is the first after a huge wave of unrest swept around the country in the autumn of 2022. Shekari was found guilty by a Iranian Revolutionary Court of “moharebeh” (enmity against God), news sources reported. Human rights groups say Shekari and […]

Authoritarianism

Women’s Revolt in Iran reaches Household of Leader Khamenei, as his Sister denounces “Despotic Caliphate”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Badri Hosseini Khamenei, the sister of Iran’s clerical Leader Ali Khamenei, just issued a public broadside against him on her son’s web site, denouncing him as a dictator who is entangled in a web of high-level corruption and disgraceful thuggery. Thus, the women’s revolt in Iran, which has been led […]

Authoritarianism

Women are the Victors in Iranian Officials’ Trial Balloon on Abolishing the Morals Police

Farhang Jahanpour

By Farhang Jahanpour | – Oxford (Special to Informed Comment) – Various Iranian and foreign news agencies have reported that Iran’s Prosecutor General has announced the shutting down of the. Guidance Patrol (often referred to in the West as the morality police). In response to a question about the dismantling of the Guidance Patrol, Prosecutor […]

Feminism

Turkey marks International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women with disturbing Femicide Numbers

Global Voices

By Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( Globalvoices.org) – Scores of women are killed in Turkey on regular basis, according to local women’s organizations. The number of femicides remains high, while the existing protective measures lack effectiveness. A local platform, We Will Stop Femicides, which tracks femicides and suspicious deaths of women, reported at least 282 […]

Feminism

Headwear and Hegemony: how ‘Turban Tossing’ Protests are threatening Iran’s ruling Clergy

The Conversation

By Negar Partow, Massey University | – (The Conversation) – The ongoing protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s “Guidance Patrol” (or morality police) have made world headlines. But there is another form of protest that has received less mainstream attention in Western media. Whereas […]

Arab World

No more “Marry your Rapist”: Repeal Laws Discriminating against Women in the Middle East – ‘Equality Now’

Middle East Monitor

By Amelia Smith | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The women’s rights NGO, Equality Now, has released a policy brief to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on how inadequate justice for women and girls, and a lack of deterrents for perpetrators, has increased violence against women. According to […]

Democratic Party

Young Voters Delivered Big Wins for Abortion Rights

OtherWords

By Ennedith Lopez | – When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, it unleashed a wave of cruel new restrictions on reproductive freedom. But shredding a half-century-old constitutional right also unleashed another wave: voters. The “red wave” Republicans expected in this year’s midterms fell far short as younger generations mobilized to protect […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian Women’s Demands for Freedom Must Be Heard

Human Rights Watch

By Rothna Begum, Senior Researcher, Women’s Rights Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – The current protests gripping Iran show no signs of abating. More than forty days since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini–who died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for breach of the country’s strict dress code–the […]