AP NGO FORUM on Beijing 10 Identity, women and Islam: Irans case Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh

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AP NGO FORUM on Beijing 10 Identity, women
and Islam Irans caseMahboubeh
Abbasgholizadeh

• mahbobeh_ir_at_hotmail.com, mahboubeh_at_ngotc.org

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Islamist women of my country

• When I was leaving Iran some of the Islamist
  women of my country asked me to remind the world
  of the following How they have combated world
  imperialism empty handedly and with limited
  resources and the high price they have paid in
  achieving this task. Although, they support
  peace and human dignity, they will never remain
  silent in the face of violators attacking their
  national integrity and personal identity.

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Islamist women of my country

• They are not concerned about economic
  globalization owing to Irans anti-imperialistic
  policies as spiritualism and religious beliefs,
  particularly respect for the position of
  motherhood and the necessity of equal education
  for men and women has facilitated access to human
  development. Facilities consisting of
  reproductive health, population control, free
  education for everyone and elimination of all
  violence against women.

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Muslim women reformist

• When I was leaving Iran, some of the Muslim women
  reformist asked me to remind the world how they
  have striven to develop civil rights for women,
  to promote democracy, to advance fundamental
  freedoms, to strengthen the Republic portion of
  the Islamic Republic and womens human rights.

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Muslim women reformist

• They emphasize how their every effort and
  movement in the legislative procedures has been
  confronted by men who regard the Islamic Shariat
  from the one- sided angle of their own Fatwas
  how womens issues have been ignored in the
  parliament amidst the internal and factional
  bickering of traditional Islamists, Modern
  Islamists and the fundamentalists and finally,
  how they have been defeated in their struggle to
  convince Iran to accede to CEDAW.

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the secular women of my country

• When I was leaving Iran, the secular women of my
  country, who are in favor of separating religion
  and state asked me to tell the world how they are
  considered as third class citizens and how they
  have been marginalized how they are denied
  political participation and candidacy for the
  parliament and the city councils how they are
  denied legal status even in acquiring permits for
  publishing any print media.

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young girls of my country

• When I was leaving Iran, I searched relentlessly
  for the voice of the young girls of my country,
  which I finally found in internet chat rooms,
  websites, student meetings, youth NGOs and long
  unemployment lines. They told me that they didnt
  know where I was going, but asked me to tell
  anyone who would listen that the ideological
  stereotyping labeling and partisan games, which
  have become a trend in Iran does not belong to
  our generation. They asked me to tell them that
  they are the real victims of fundamentalism, be
  it Islamic or American.

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young girls of my country

• Tell them that although they struggled to achieve
  a reformist government they were, nevertheless,
  ignored as the countries major constituents and
  their demands were not met. They said that they
  want to have the right to make decisions
  regarding their future and their private lives,
  their equal civil rights with men, the right of
  participation in public spheres, the right of
  clothing, the right to love, the right to enjoy
  life and other natural human rights.

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Pictures and voices

• this is only a portion of voices and pictures
  that can be heard and seen in my country Iran.
  Pictures and voices, diverse in their nature, can
  only be seen and heard through the openings
  provided in the civil society, .

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Pictures and voices

• but there is no diversity in the sufferings
  women undergo The shadow of a patriarchal
  system cast in public and private lives, which is
  guarded by apparently religious related beliefs
  and traditions as watchful force in all spheres
  of our lives.

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to intermingling of politicization of Islam with
womens issues

• womens issues in Iran, like womens issues in
  other countries, is considered to be a historical
  and cultural issue. During the last years,
  however, owing to intermingling of politicization
  of Islam with womens issues the problem is
  placed in a more complex scenario. Consequently,
  womens issues has become one of the major
  indicators of evaluating modern and
  fundamentalist Islamic functions.

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to intermingling of politicization of Islam with
womens issues

• This may be the main reason that superficial
  indicators such as the dress code determine the
  average power of reformists and fundamentalists
  and leniency in this area is not necessarily
  indicative of advancement of women, nor does it
  mean that the ruling parties are heeding to any
  of the important critical concerns for women such
  as their social, economic, political, civil and
  legal rights.

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to intermingling of politicization of Islam with
womens issues

• This has caused much concern among women, as
  they are always promised and never delivered to
  and have to go through the most complicated maze
  of the political and social arena to have their
  voices heard and even that is often in vein.

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The identity, the others

• The womens movement in Iran, although
  diversified and varied is nonetheless extremely
  alive owing to challenges in obtaining womens
  human rights and achieving gender equity and
  equality.

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The identity, the others

• The womens movement in Iran is confronted by two
  types of the others in order to obtain their
  independent identity, internal and external,
  the former being Islamic fundamentalism and the
  latter being western fundamentalism.

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The identity, the others

• Modern Muslim women in describing their identity
  believe that being Muslim is part of their
  identity, they say we do not intend to fight
  Islam, we are only in search of that same Islamic
  and human justice granted us in the Koran, only a
  modern form of justice in criteria with modern
  day needs.

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The identity, the others

• All of the above struggles and challenges has
  strengthened womens movement in Iran and we have
  come out of it much stronger and more resistant

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New blood

• it is crucial to include women from Islamic
  countries as active members of the Asia Pacific
  Forum. Countries amidst constant struggles
  between fundamentalism and militarism, whose
  women have relentlessly fought to maintain their
  identity and achieve their rights.

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New blood

• This I ask of this Forum not merely to diversify
  womens movement and stay within the structure of
  the objectives of the Beijing Platform for
  Action, but to benefit from our experiences and
  bring new blood into a movement, which thanks to
  the struggles and endeavors endured by all of you
  has become an ancient podium of wisdom and
  strength.

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Thank you

• NGOTC
• Tehran - Iran