Ms. Margarita DE LAPISA CARRIÓN, MEP from Spain and a member of the EP Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, addressed a conference at the European Parliament’s headquarters in Brussels on April 9, 2024.
The conference sponsored by the Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality was entitled, “Championing Change: Supporting the Long Journey of Iranian Women.”
Following is the speech by MEP Margarita DE LAPISA CARRIÓN:
Dear Mrs. Rajavi,
It’s a great pleasure to be with you today and to join colleagues from all groups in expressing our firm support for the courageous women and girls of Iran standing on the forefront of the protest movement and leading their organized resistance against the regime.
You have paid a heavy price and make a great personal sacrifice to advance the cause of freedom, democracy, human rights in Iran.
Iran is a rich and thousand-year-old civilization.
It is a country that has been occupied by fundamentalist rule for decades. All the fundamental rights of women are taken from them.
On the opposing side of this brutality stands a legacy of 120 years of relentless struggles of freedom and equality led by Iranian women. Among the brightest chapters of its ongoing history are the acts of resistance carried out by the women of the Iranian opposition.
They have been raped, tortured, repressed, and executed. They have stood in the frontline of all protests even until today. This is the meaning of resistance.
We must continue to do all we can to support the women of Iran, and we will.
Iran’s future is with the people, and we and the European Union should recognize and acknowledge the struggle a free and democratic Iran. That is what we are going to do until we can celebrate it in Iran together in Tehran.
Thank you very much.