NCRI Women’s Committee Monthly Report – September 2018

NCRI Women’s Committee Monthly Report – September 2018

Download full text

Double discrimination, double pressure make life tough for Iran women

September was replete with numerous instances of suppression of Iranian women and discrimination against them while they did not sit silent by staging or actively participating in at least 42 protests.

NCRI Women’s Committee Monthly Report – September 2018 reviews the arrests and sentences issued for women activists, the expulsion of female journalist, the hampering of a bill curbing violence against women, the new measures undertaken by the clerical regime to prevent women from entering stadiums, and the additional pressure women heads of household in Iran have to endure due to the bankrupt state of the economy.

Amnesty International called for release of detained women activists

The Iranian regime continued its unwarranted arrests and imprisonment of human rights lawyers and activists. Amnesty International issued a statement on September 3, 2018, warning that the arrests of lawyers and women’s rights activists in Iran signal intensifying crackdown on civil society.

“These latest arrests are a blatant attempt to silence those advocating for human rights in Iran,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The human rights situation in Iran has reached crisis point. Mild expressions of concern are not enough. We call on the international community to demand that the Iranian authorities stop attacks on human rights defenders, including human rights lawyers and women’s rights activists. It should urge the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release those most recently detained and ensure that every detainee is provided access to a lawyer of their own choosing from the time of arrest.”

Hoda Amid, Najmeh Vahedi, Rezvaneh Mohammadi

On the morning of September 1, 2018, Hoda Amid, a lawyer and a women’s rights activist, and Najmeh Vahedi, another women’s rights activist and sociology graduate, were arrested by security forces at their homes in Tehran.

The two women used to hold workshops for women to educate them about their rights.

Another women’s rights activist and student of gender studies, Rezvaneh Mohammadi, was arrested by security forces on September 3, 2018, for unknown reasons. Ms. Mohammadi has been transferred to the Women’s Ward of Evin Prison after undergoing interrogations for nearly one month.