{"id":5942,"date":"2023-01-19T20:53:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T20:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelfoundation.org\/?p=5942"},"modified":"2023-01-19T20:53:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T20:53:43","slug":"channel-grantee-leaders-address-protests-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trockwebdesign.com\/channel\/2023\/01\/19\/channel-grantee-leaders-address-protests-in-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Channel Partner Leaders Address Protests in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several prominent voices in the press addressing the protests in Iran that began in September 2022 after t<\/span>he death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody<\/span> have been long-time Channel partners including Mahnaz Afkhami, Founder of Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP)<\/a><\/span>, and <\/span>Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE, Founder and CEO of International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN).<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Afkhami issued a statement<\/a> on the protests on Sept. 28, 2022, in which she wrote, \u201cWomen and men in Iran are bravely challenging the Islamic Republic, the only theocracy in the world, and calling for justice.\u00a0 Mahsa\u2019s story will reverberate in the future of Iran, which is currently being shaped in the streets.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Jan. 19, 2023, Afkhami invited justice rights activists around the globe to\u00a0express their solidarity with Iranians mobilizing for azadi<\/em>\u2013for freedom.\u00a0 She wrote, “Please join us and world leaders for human rights in signing a statement entitled ‘The Iranian Struggle for Freedom: A Call for Global Solidarity.’\u00a0 Nobel Prize winners Shirin Ebadi and Maria Ressa, Russian political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as well as dozens of parliamentarians, heads of NGOs, journalists, and scholars have already signed.” The joint statement<\/a> was released by Freedom House on Feb. 1, 2023.<\/p>\n

Uniquely situated to place these current protests in a longer historical trajectory, Afkhami, the Former Minister of Women’s Affairs in Iran, published a memoir in October 2022 on women\u2019s rights in Iran and the global women\u2019s movement, The Other Side of Silence: A Memoir of Exile, Iran, and the Global Women\u2019s Movement <\/span><\/i><\/a>(UNC Press)<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 From a book summary: \u201cRight now, women in Iran are courageously demanding equality, freedom, and justice.\u00a0 The stories and experiences shared in the book give context to their bravery, and demonstrate the hope found when women believe in their power and join together for a better world.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, WLP has posted many gender equality resources for activists working in Iran (in Persian and English) on their website here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Anderlini, a prominent British-Iranian and Director of the London School of Economics’ Centre for Women, Peace and Security<\/a><\/span>, has been interviewed for a number of news sources about the situation in Iran.\u00a0 Indeed Anderlini spoke to Anna Coren on <\/span>CNN International<\/span><\/a> on Oct. 27, 2022, about the predominantly women-led protests in Iran that began after Mahsa Amini\u2019s death.\u00a0 Hundreds of protestors have been killed and thousands have been arrested according to human rights groups.\u00a0\u00a0 On Nov. 1, 2022, <\/span>Anderlini tweeted<\/a><\/span>: \u201cI spoke with (CNN) about the courage of women-led protests in Iran, attention to detainees, & importance of international engagement thru embassies, media & multilaterally. Isolating Iranian public from the world will do them more harm.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most recently Anderlini spoke to Christiane Amanpour on CNN International on Jan. 16, 2023 (video clip)<\/a>. Anderlini described the <\/span>#IranProtests<\/a> as \u201ca real watershed moment in the history of Iran and history of this regime.\u201d She explains that the regime \u201cis using the only tools it knows: violence and fear\u201d and that a series of executions in <\/span>Iran is meant to \u201cscare people back into their homes\u201d after months of protests. Concluding the interview, Anderlini says: \u201cfor the first time in history, even globally, we’re seeing a revolution that is not only led by women, but the message of women’s rights ‘<\/span>#WomanLifeFreedom<\/a>‘ is the clarion call for everybody.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Anderlini has been quoted and interviewed in a number of news articles about the situation in Iran including by the San Diego Union-Tribune on Oct. 16, 2022: <\/span>Today, girls and women in Iran have picked up gender equality fight of the generations before them.<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Additionally, Femena<\/a>, another organization founded by a Channel partner, and which promotes gender equality and supports women human rights defenders, published a series of reports about the protests<\/a>. \u00a0\u201cIran Protests: Feminists and WHRDs Detained – Report 6,<\/a>” dated <\/span>Nov. 18, 2022, highlighted the cases of 30 women human rights defenders (WHRDs), bringing the total of cases documented to 148. While a small <\/span>portion of those arrested have been temporarily released on bail, their cases pending trial, the majority of WHRDs arrested continue to remain in prison in harsh conditions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sussan Tahmasebi, Director of Femena and co-founder of the Iran Civil Society Training and Research Center, was interviewed on <\/span>Democracy Now!<\/span><\/i><\/a> on Dec. 15, 2022.\u00a0 Tahmasebi said the protests are \u201cthe longest sustained protests since the start of the revolution\u201d and women and youth are sick of the status quo and are seeking fundamental freedoms.\u00a0 \u201cIranians voted multiple times for over two decades for some process of reform \u2026 but the state has not given in to those demands,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now is the result.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tahmasebi is also co-founder of the One Million Signatures Campaign, a grassroots effort which worked to end gender-biased laws in Iran.\u00a0 For more background on the Campaign, see the book published by WLP entitled <\/span>Iranian Women’s One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality: The Inside Story<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, several leaders from another Channel grantee partner Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)<\/a> were interviewed extensively in the press about the Iran protests.\u00a0 Homa Hoodfar, Board member of WLUML, was interviewed in The New Yorker magazine<\/a>.\u00a0 Another WLUML Board member, Mona Tajali, was featured in pieces in the Washington Post<\/a> and Foreign Affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Channel stands in solidarity with the people of Iran fighting oppression, particularly the women fighting for gender equality and bodily autonomy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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