In Iran Women Race Ahead, But Still Face Gender Block (VIDEO)

In Iran, women have made remarkable strides in education in the last decades -- 65 percent of college undergraduates are female and 70 percent of graduate students are enrolled in medicine. Yet legally, women cannot travel freely without the permission of a male relative and face formidable obstacles when divorcing their husbands.

Iranian-American correspondent Bigan Saliani and producer Richard O'Regan traveled to Iran to explore the tensions between the expectations of many highly educated young Iranian women and the realities of their lives.

For more coverage of women in Iran, visit our Women in Islam extended coverage page.

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Comments

[flossophy]

01:20 PM on 09/10/2009

Elie Wiesel predicted today's world in 1983:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYbf4Iul7mA&feature=channel

5:00 minutes in.

[joabear]

07:01 PM on 09/09/2009

""Join us in New York City, September 23rd and 24th, as we raise our Voices for Iran and demand Ahmadinejad be held accountable for crimes against the Iranian people. We call upon the international community support human rights in Iran and reject the policies of military aggression and economic starvation.

Say no to torture, killings, and rape. Say yes to freedom of speech, assembly. End the show trials. Free all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and hold the real criminals accountable. Remember Neda and Sohrab, and all the victims of state violence. Oppose war and economic sanctions. Shame Ahmadinejad.

We aim to have the single biggest international action in support of Iranian rights ever in one location. We encourage everyone to come to New York City September 23rd and 24th for two days of action. Together we can send a message that is heard loud and clear!

Schedule (check voices4iran.com for times & location updates):

Wed. Sept. 23rd, 2:30pm to 6:30pm: Rally at the UN building (47th between 1st & 2nd Ave)

Participants include: Denis Halliday, Arash of Kiosk, Fatemeh Haghighatjou,

Wed. Sept. 23rd, 7:30pm to 8:30pm: outdoor film & cultural event (location TBA)

Thursday. Sept 24th: March with the Green Scroll (location and time TBA)

Thursday. Sept 24th: Music for Iran, social event fundraiser (location and time TBA) "

http://iranian.com/main/node/79752

[joabear]

06:34 PM on 09/09/2009

Actually I believe that Iran is already a militarized state, it hasn't been officially announced yet. It started by so called privatization of main industries, which industries were basically auctioned off to Sepah and a nominal price.


http://middleeastprogress.org/2009/08/militarizati...

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/23/iran-mous...

http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1058378.html



Inflation is approx. at 20%[17.10% for 2008, ranked 217] where unemployment is approx. at 18%[12.00% for 2008]. This is not taking into account the hidden unemployment/under employment that is so prevalent in government sector. How much more [run-a-way]could things get?
Tehran and most other metropolitan cities are among the most expensive real estates in the world. Approximately 18% of the population live under poverty line.

http://www.indexmundi.com/iran/population_below_po...

This number is close to 90% according to Mohammad Abbaspour PM[Majles]:

http://www.iranfocus.com/en/iran-general-/90-perce...

Education system is deteriorating as we speak. With exception of oil revenue, we are not competitive in any product in international market, not even Persian rugs anymore. Even the privatized industries required bail-out early in the year with the amount of $1 billion for Iran Khodro:

http://business.maktoob.com/20090000360279/Billion...

stock market:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008...

[joabear]

06:15 PM on 09/09/2009

Campaign against discriminatory laws against Iranian women:

http://www.sign4change.info/english/

[joabear]

06:09 PM on 09/09/2009

"The Iranian leaders should think twice about the failure of Islamization in the past three decades.

By RASOOL NAFISI | 6 Sept 2009

[TEHRAN BUREAU] Ayatollah Khamenei met with a group of university professors on Sunday, August 31, warning them of “enemy plots” and the threat of a “soft revolution,” adding that the main duty of the academics was to prepare cultural grounds to defend against such a revolution, according to IRNA.

Showing his unhappiness with the fact that almost two-thirds of university students were seeking degrees in the Humanities and Liberal Arts (oloom enssani), Khamenei said there were not enough institutions and qualified instructors “believing in the Islamic world view” to train that many students. The hallmark of Khamenei’s speech was his clear rejection of the Humanities and Liberal Arts as un-Islamic.

“Many of the Humanities and liberal arts [topics] are based on philosophies whose foundations are materialism and disbelief in godly and Islamic teachings,” Khamenei said. “Instructing those sciences lead to the loss of belief in godly and Islamic knowledge. Teaching those disciplines lead to propagation of skepticism and doubt about religious principles and beliefs.” He emphasized “nativization” of the sciences, meaning interpreting them in the context of Shiism...
http://tehranbureau.com/cultural-revolution/

[joabear]

06:07 PM on 09/09/2009

Where is Iran headed?

http://tehranbureau.com/iran-headed/

[joabear]

06:06 PM on 09/09/2009

The most overly cautious Iranians are the well off ones who have homes abroad and inside Iran.

http://tehranbureau.com/khoda-khorma/

Louisamast: do you have a home in Iran?

[joabear]

06:05 PM on 09/09/2009

Iran continues to suffer from double-digit unemployment and inflation - inflation climbed to a 28% annual rate in 2008. Underemployment among Iran's ...

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html

Note: the unemployment rate is for 2008. Also, these rates are given to CIA by the Iranian officials which are hardly reliable given their track record.

[joabear]

05:57 PM on 09/09/2009

"Abuse of Iranian Women Under IRI Rule

"Women in Iran have been some of the biggest victims of the IRI. While the IRI is an equal opportunity offender of men and women when it comes to human rights, women have especially been the target of the IRI’s chauvinistic doctrine. Since that Islamo-mafia government of Ayatooleh Khomeini took power in Iran, the following rights have been taken away from women in Iran:

The deprivation of these rights has had a catastrophic impact on many women and their families in Iran. I happen to personally know a close relative in Iran who had to endure years of emotional (and sometimes even physical) abuse at the hands of her husband just so that she didn’t lose custody of her children. She was afraid to file for a divorce because he constantly threatened her that he will take her daughters away from her. The situation was awful for the daughters as well, because they too saw the abuse, but could not help their mother. I am sure that the abusive situation will haunt them in their relationships as well.

May we look forward to the day when Iranian women can once again become citizens with equal rights in the Iranian society. "
http://www.iranian.com/main/node/79283

[joabear]

05:54 PM on 09/09/2009

This report documents and analyzes the Iranian government’s massacre of political prisoners in 1988. Pursuant to a fatwa issued by then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the government systematically interrogated, tortured and summarily executed thousands of political prisoners. Many families were never informed about the executions and many of the victims were buried in unmarked mass graves. The Iranian government has never identified those who were secretly executed and tortured, and has never issued an explanation for this crime.
http://www.iranhrdc.org/httpdocs/English/reports.htm

[BlueMrsKitty]

05:15 PM on 09/09/2009

Did everyone catch the important (although buried) fact at the 6:00 mark? Iran has had a female Vice President. Amazing!

[joabear]

05:32 PM on 09/09/2009

Yes, many anti-women Islamists women are in the parliament precisely to deceive useful idiots in the West.

They are called Fati-commandos. They are hard core basijis.

Iranian women activists not fooled by president

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090827/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_women_ministers

[BlueMrsKitty]

07:23 PM on 10/08/2009

The woman in question served under Khatami.

[joabear]

05:10 PM on 09/09/2009

Iran cancels ceremony where Hassan Khomeini

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An annual religious ceremony which could have become a rallying point for Iran's pro-reform opposition has been canceled, Iranian media said on Saturday.

A reformist website also published the names of 72 people it said had been killed in unrest following the disputed June presidential election.

Some 30 died from gunshot wounds, others from baton blows, one had his throat slit, one was thrown from the third floor of a building and one woman was burned beyond recognition, it said.

The cancellation of next week's ceremony may reflect authorities' concern it could have become the scene of renewed opposition protests against hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his re-election.

The poll results sparked huge opposition demonstrations, plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and further strained ties with the West.

The Mardomsalari newspaper cited "pressure" on the family of late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to call off the speeches traditionally held at his shrine near Tehran to mark the seventh century death of Imam Ali, Shi'ite Islam's most revered figure after the Prophet Mohammad.

"This is the first year in which the mourning is not held at the Imam's (Khomeini's) shrine," Mardomsalari said. "The official communique says the Imam's shrine is unable to hold the mourning period in view of the problems it


http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Iran/idUSTRE58411T20090905

[joabear]

04:42 PM on 09/09/2009

The unemployment rate in Iran is almost 30+%. More than 30% live below poverty level. There is not enough job for either men or women. The country is broke. Those who have a job are self-employed to make ends meet.

Things are getting much worse

.IRI, damaged and hanging on
Neither Islamic nor a republic

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/aug/29/iran-clergy-infighting-ayatollah

[kylennblack]

05:00 PM on 09/09/2009

Dinnerjacket is sitting on a powderkeg and one of his most formidable opponents is a woman - Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard who is the real powerhouse.

One tough lady.

[louisamast]

05:30 PM on 09/09/2009

Where do you get these numbers? The actual numbers are 130% and 130% for both unemployment and below poverty level rates. Now you can see making numbers does not need special skill. Any one can do it.

[joabear]

05:33 PM on 09/09/2009

I sure don't get it from your paymasters in Iran.

[joabear]

05:38 PM on 09/09/2009

louisamast: khar khodeti. We've been down this path before. You're propagandizing for the Islamic Republic and it's shameful.

[TXfemmom]

04:34 PM on 09/09/2009

If the Republicans, such as the Republican running for Governor in Virginia, had their way women here wouldn't have any rights either.

[joabear]

04:50 PM on 09/09/2009

Too true.

[joabear]

04:14 PM on 09/09/2009

This is our fight
by Jahanshah Javid
08-Sep-2009

I'm very encouraged by the events in Iran. I know many don't share this view. Many are disheartened by how the regime has crushed a popular uprising. But has it really been crushed?

I'm thrilled because I think the Islamic Republic is in deep trouble. By ruthlessly eliminating mildly critical loyalists from the circle of power, it has weakened its own foundations and deeply disillusioned a vast sector of the population. It has become obvious the Islamic Republic no longer enjoys significant popular support. And its actions show that it now relies purely on its military and security apparatus for its survival. But for how long?

Ahmadinejad's manufactured victory was a shock, but the bigger shock was the people's reaction.

The Islamic Republic is limping along. In a matter of weeks it has managed to multiply its domestic enemies. It has pissed off a whole nation, pretty much. The damage to the legitimacy of velayat-e faghih is irreparable. Yet Khamenei and his band of thugs are not going to bend an inch. They are too drunk from a false sense of power and omnipotence. On the other hand the people are not going to fall in love with the Islamic Republic all over again. There will be many more confrontations ahead, large and small, and my bet is that the democratic movement will emerge victorious. Political Islam is dead. Wishful thinking? We'll see!

...
http://iranian.com/main/node/79879

[wereeverywhere]

09:57 PM on 09/09/2009

The comments to the article you link to show some insight to the way green protesters think and hope. Samples:

"So yes there are millions who support him [Ahmadinejad] and you can't just get rid of them like in a snap. You have to deal with them. I don't have the answers and I'm saying don't make this as if it is a fore gone conclusion."

"Iran already has run away inflation and astronomical unemplyment. Everyone I know who lives in Iran says "Iran digar jaye zendegi nist". It is a disaster. It is the likes of Mogabee that are friends of Iran these days."

"This war must be won by Iranians and Iranians alone. It will be an absolute delusion to think that any other country has the good of our nation in mind."