Women protest to show their support for Iranian demonstrators, holding a banner reading “Women, Life, Freedom,” in Paris, October 2, 2022. © Aurelien Morissard / AP
On the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, this March 8, RFI collected testimonies from Iranian women in the diaspora, of all ages and backgrounds. United by the fight for freedom and the rights of their fellow citizens against the Islamic regime, each of them experienced a different era of Iran.
They are 76, 49, 40, and 29 years old. Each in her own way, these four Iranian women have fought, more or less directly, for their dignity. And above all, to protest against a value system where women “count for only half of a man.”
In 1979, Nazila Golestan was six years old. She witnessed, with still-innocent eyes, the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while Ayatollah Khomeini established himself as Supreme Leader and instituted Sharia law. Wearing the veil became mandatory for women, and gradually, the rights of Iranian women were radically curtailed. “The entire system put in place by the Islamic regime is based on misogyny. Violence against women has become an industry,” asserts Nazila Golestan, 49, who has lived in France since 1999.
Pari Barkeshli also had no intention of leaving Iran when she went into exile in France in 1982. But because of “all the restrictions imposed on women,” she had no choice but to flee. This 76-year-old virtuoso pianist remembers the arrival of the Islamists very well. “Before, I had a completely normal life. I gave concerts, I was a university professor, I had a bank account, I could go wherever I wanted, I could dress as I wished… I got married and I could get divorced.” For her, under the rule of the last Shah (1941–1979), “being a woman was not a problem.” Then, within a few months, everything changed before her eyes.
Different eras, similar experiences
This transition from an era of relative freedom to a “sexist-based” system is something Behnaz Shakerian has never experienced. Born in 1994, fifteen years after the establishment of the Islamic regime in Iran, she stayed in Iran for twenty-five years before moving to France to continue her studies. “I was not happy in my country. I was frustrated, blocked. All opportunities were reserved for men. A woman has no rights in Iran. There is nothing for me there,” she sighs.
Indeed, from 1979 onwards, a set of laws significantly restricting women’s rights was enacted. Pro-natalist policies, bans on permanent contraception, the obligation to obtain the husband’s permission to travel, limited rights in case of divorce, especially concerning child custody… As public policies hardened, Iranian women lost their “independence and autonomy” again and again. In 2021, the average gender pay gap in Iran was 41%, according to Le Monde.
Behnaz Shakerian herself long faced economic difficulties because of her gender. “I couldn’t earn a living even though I was highly qualified. I wanted a job in IT alongside my studies. But during an interview, an employer looked me in the eye and said: ‘This is not a job we can give to a woman.’ It’s always like this.”
Mona Jafarian has never lived in Iran long-term but, like Behnaz, she knows very well what her fellow citizens’ daily lives are like. Arriving in France at a year and a half, she says she has always remained “very Iranian.” Throughout her youth, this content creator spent her summers in her country of origin. And the older she got, the more she confronted the “gender apartheid and oppression” that women endure. “When I went to the beach, I found it completely insane that there were specific hours for women and curtains in the water not to cross, in case a man could see us,” she recalls.
A femininity that turns into humiliation
Nazila Golestan first wore the veil at the age of seven. “I cried all the way to school,” she recalls. In primary school, the curriculum taught her that being “a woman is something negative.” So Nazila cut her hair, wore men’s clothes, and decided to pass as a boy. “I did it because my femininity disgusted me,” she confides. She carried this gender-related trauma throughout her puberty. “I put tape on my breasts, thinking that dressing like a man would show that I am strong.”
This trauma is shared by Mona Jafarian, though ten years her junior. “Water skiing and having to disguise myself as a boy, then quickly getting back on the boat to put my veil back on. Being reprimanded because the coat isn’t long enough. Being sexualized when you’re barely nine years old. It’s extremely violent and unbearable. When you experience it from the inside, you wonder how Iranian women manage to endure this every day,” she recounts.
This is why, when she arrived in France at 25, Nazila Golestan relearned what it means to be a woman. “I reconciled with my femininity. When I appear on television as an activist, I deliberately wear makeup and nail polish to show Iranians and the regime that one can be a woman—feminine, intelligent, and strong,” emphasizes this spokesperson of the HamAva association, a national coalition for a democratic and secular Iran.
Passing the torch from generation to generation of Iranian women
For nearly six months, images of young women with their hair flowing, wearing makeup, proud and with heads held high in the streets of several cities, have circulated on social media. Videos show women working without veils, writing the tag “Death to Khamenei!” on walls, and shouting at the top of their lungs the slogan that has become the symbol of Iranian protest: “Women, Life, Freedom.” The national uprising against the Islamic regime, triggered by the death of young Mahsa Amini after her arrest for a “misplaced” scarf on September 16, 2022, has not weakened.
And it is the new generation of young Iranian women and men who “lead the entire nation, carry the full weight of the revolution on their shoulders, and take all the risks. It is an incredible, unstoppable generation, hungry for democracy and freedom,” asserts Mona Jafarian, founder of two collectives supporting Iranians, Femmes Azadi and Action 4 Iran.
I call the Islamic Republic “colonizers.” Just colonizers who for the moment occupy our country, which we will be able to reclaim. Obviously, this is not sustainable.
Mona Jafarian, co‑founder of the Femme Azadi collective
As she emphasizes, the entire diaspora admires the courage of young Iranian women. “Despite the threat of arrest, rape, and torture, they resist. They go out without a scarf, which was unimaginable just six months ago. For me, they have already won,” adds Pari Barkeshli. She knows the “cost of submission.” The famous pianist also tried to make a change in her time. An active participant in the protests against the mandatory veil in 1980, she ultimately witnessed the regime consolidate, coupled with the stagnation of the Iran-Iraq war.
Behnaz Shakerian does not hide her bitterness toward her elders. For her, the generation that experienced the regime change from the Shah to Khomeini bears a real share of responsibility. “I cannot excuse them for not having tried harder to rebel at the time, since they are the ones who put us in this mess!” she says forcefully.
Yet today, more than ever, Behnaz continues to hope. Alone in France for four years, she is in daily contact with her university friends who remained in Iran. One evening, one of them said to her: “I see nothing for my future anymore. Sometimes I think that dying is better than living here.” But since the national uprising has gained momentum, the morale of her friends is changing. “They are no longer frustrated like before. Sometimes I am very afraid for my friends, that they might die or be arrested, but I also understand that to succeed in a revolution, one must pay with their life,” concludes the student.
Social media, the key tool of mobilization
Compared to past generations, Nazila, Pari, Mona, and Behnaz all agree on one thing: today’s youth is no longer afraid and has nothing to lose. Above all, unlike previous movements, Iranian women now have wide access to social media. “I like to say we have 87 million journalists in Iran,” jokes Mona Jafarian.
In 1998, Nazila Golestan took part in student protests. “At that time, we were very little connected to the rest of the world. Whereas today’s generation was born with smartphones, and they have a much more open mindset.” Indeed, they have access to more diverse cultural references, with messages that are light-years away from those promoted by Islamic propaganda.
“With the internet, these young women see clearly what is happening in the world. And how could they not revolt when comparing the restrictions imposed on them with the freedoms women enjoy in other countries?” wonders Pari Barkeshli. Globalized, educated, organized, and determined Iranian women. From a “bulldozer generation that will not back down,” asserts Mona Jafarian. Proud women, in Iran and abroad, fighting for freedom and “a normal life.”
Source: https://www.rfi.fr/fr/moyen-orient/20230308-droits-des-femmes-%C3%A0-chaque-g%C3%A9n%C3%A9ration-des-iraniennes-en-lutte-pour-leur-libert%C3%A9