Anonymous women and men risked their lives to film “Nasrin” a documentary that represents Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer who challenges extremism and human rights violations in Iran. These anonymous people are journalists whose freedom of expression is highly restricted in the region. Iran was ranked 176th out of the 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index. As a result of the restrictions imposed on freedom of expression, it is quite difficult to document dissents and political prisoners.
In the name of Islam, extremism is justified to silence people’s voices. In addition to human rights violations, Islam is misrepresented to unleash atrocities on activists. Limited freedom is upheld to maintain the political supremacists in Iran. Extremism prevails to restrict the rights of children, women, and religious minorities.
Nasrin makes a comparison between women’s rights in ancient and present Iran
The film unfolds by highlighting the rights women enjoyed in ancient Iran. Indeed, there is a comparison between the past and the present. It is mentioned that women’s rights to maintain finances, own property and choose their spouse were prevalent in ancient Persia. With the passage of time, women’s position has been relegated to rearing children and being in kitchens.
Prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, despite playing an important role in the Constitutional Revolution in 1905, women still could not enjoy the right to vote. In the period between 1963 and 1967, women gained certain rights, including divorce and holding child custody, even though the restriction on civil rights still persist.
Women’s activism is not a new phenomenon in Iran; it is a prolonged struggle, including challenging a law that reduces the age for girls to get married from eighteen to nine. In subsequent times, the age was raised, but only to thirteen. At present, Iran is responsible for treating women as second-class citizens. Before the ‘Women, Life, Freedom,’ movement came to public attention in Iran in 2022, activists had been challenging patriarchal norms for decades. Freedom of expression is controlled in Iran to repudiate women’s agency. Despite being an Islamic republic, Iran does not hold Islamic teachings. Instead, it justifies its draconian laws on the grounds of protecting Islamic principles.
Currently, women in Iran are susceptible to discrimination in divorce, holding child custody, and inheritance. They remain underrepresented in the public and private domains. Their willingness is controlled, and it is evident from the “Protection of the Family Through Promoting the Culture of Hijab and Chastity,” a 2023 law passed by the parliament to punish those who refuse to cover their head with a hijab. The imprisonment for violating the Iranian dress code was announced up to 10 years in jail. Nahid Naghshbandi, an Iranian researcher at Human Rights Watch, stated that, “this law will only breed fierce resistance and defiance among women in and outside Iran.” Amnesty International considered this law as intensifying the oppression of women and girls.
Human rights are deemed a western concept, not compatible with the Iranian culture
‘Nasrin,’ is based on Nasrin Sotoudeh’s contributions to the protection of human rights. Human rights are deemed not compatible with Iranian culture. Sotoudeh worked in law to protect the rights of children, ethno-religious minorities, and women. Children who face domestic abuse do not get justice. Iranian authorities impose the death penalty on people under 18, which is against International human rights law. To be precise, it is a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In 2010, The International Federation for Human Rights and The Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights released a report titled “The Hidden Face of Iran.” It claimed, “ethnic and religious minorities in Iran face severe discrimination, such as arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions, destruction of cemeteries and holy places.” This systematic discrimination targets minorities, especially Baha’is, Chritistans, Sunni Muslims, and Sufis.
Women’s rights are also not recognised in Iran. Activism pertaining to this brings into suppression and violations. Being a woman in Iran means giving in to patriarchal norms. Wearing a hijab should be one’s personal choice, it should not be imposed on women as a law. Sotoudeh is clear about covering the head in public as a part of coercion.
The year 1979 marked the revolution in Iran that turned repressive, especially related to women. In education, women are more educated than men, and capable of holding professions but they are not allowed to take certain jobs. The rights of women, including the right to travel without the permission of the husband are unrecognised. In 2006, the one-million signatures campaign was launched to ensure equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, inheritance. It was also designed to secure justice in honor killing cases and put an end to polygamy. During the campaign, discussions and talks were held. Along with Nasrin Sotoudeh, Mansoureh Shojaee, Narges Mohammadi, Shirin Ebadi were also participants in this campaign, and gave their signatures to the parliament, asking to reform them. As a result, incarceration was imposed on them. Many participants were transported to Evin Prison, which was established in 1971. This place stands out as a witness to human rights violations, including rape.
According to Amnesty International, during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement sexual violnce was documented in around 17 provinces in Iran. The perpetrators are from the Revolutionary Guards, the Paramilitary Basij Force, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Public Security Force, and other branches of the Police system. It further states, rape is weaponised to silence protestors. Prosecutors and judges are documented to have ignored this damage on women, girls and men and made fallacious charges against them to bring them to imprisonment and death sentence.
It is even touched upon in the documentary that human rights are considered a western concept, not compatible with Iranian culture. In and outside Iran, the staunch supporters of the Iranian regime do not bother to understand prolonged activism against human rights violations and consider it an American agenda. The conflict between the USA and Iran must not be used as a justification to overlook institutionalised discrimination.
Execution of political prisoners is used to silence the oppressed
The opposition is always deemed a political agenda. Although the film is based on Nasrin Sotoudeh, it covers political prisoners and their struggles in its essence. The reason for being behind bars is their dissenting voices against the socio-political system. She dedicates her career to bringing justice to opposition activists in prison, and for which she was put behind bars multiple times. The most recent instance was in 2018 when she was slammed with nine charges, including corruption, encouraging prostitution, disturbing public peace, etc. Due to these charges, she was sentenced to 38 years of imprisonment with 148 lashes in 2018. Iranian authorities target her for her peaceful legal defense of human rights. Furthermore, the execution of political prisoners is used as a weapon to suppress the voices of the oppressed.
About the author(s)
As a student of history at the University of Delhi, Nashra Rehman is always elated to share
her understanding of Gender History and an interlink between past and present. She is highly
passionate to inculcate in awakening minds pertaining to “How and Why women are
marginalised” through her publications.
Content was superb 👍
And Nashra you are the best feminist writer forever