Iran: over 400 women protest constitutional sexism

Off Our Backs, May/Jun 2005 by Verma, Priya, Douglas, Carol Anne, Pleatman, Rachel, Chapman, Annsley, Et al

TEHERAN-More than 400 women took to the streets of Teheran on June 12 in the first women's protest since the 1979 revolution. They staged this unauthorized demonstration days before the June 17 presidential elections, in order to protest discriminatory laws against women.

They also expressed their outrage at their government, their leaders, and representatives, saying that they are "tired of bing courted with promises of improved status that are quickly forgotten once the election is over."

Under current Iranian law, a woman's life is worth half as much as a man's life, and her testimony in court is worth half as much as his. Women must keep themselves veiled in public and must get their husband's permission to work or to leave the country.

Iranian feminists who have tried to work within the system to make changes have been shut out: last month 89 women who registered to run for president had their registrations revoked by the government on the basis of their sex. One of the protesters, Roohi Afzal, said that the women of Iran will continue to protest "because it shows that women are aware of [our] rights."

-info from tehranavenue.com