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 from various backgrounds. United by the fight for freedom and the rights of their fellow citizens against the Islamic regime, they each went through a different era of Iran.
They are 76 years old, 49 years old, 40 years old and 29 years old. Each in their own way, these four Iranian women fought, more or less directly, for their dignity. And above all, to protest against a system of values where the woman ” only counts for half man “.
In 1979, Nazila Golestan was six years old. She attends with a still innocent look at the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while the Ayatollah Khomeini establishes himself as supreme guide and institutes the law of Sharia. The wearing of the veil for women becomes compulsory and, little by little, the rights of Iranian women are radically curtailed. ” The whole system put in place by the Islamic regime is based on misogyny. Violence against women has become an industry », Asserts Nazila Golestan49, living 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 restrictions imposed on women she had no choice but to flee. This virtuoso pianist 76 years old remembers very well the coming to power of the Islamists. ” Before, I had a completely normal life. I gave concerts, I was a professor at the university, I had a bank account, I could go where I wanted, I could dress as I wished… I got married and I was able to divorce. “For her, during the reign of the last Shah (from 1941 to 1979), ” being a woman was not a problem “. Then, in the space of a few months, everything changed before his eyes.
Different times, similar experiences
This transition from an era of relative freedom to that of a system at the base sexist “, Behnaz Shakerian, she has never known. Born in 1994, fifteen years after the establishment of the Islamic regime in Iran, the young woman remained in Iran for twenty-five years before leaving for France to continue her studies. ” I was not happy in my country. I was frustrated, stuck. All opportunities were reserved for men. A woman has no rights in Iran. There’s nothing for me there she sighs.
Indeed, from 1979, a package of laws considerably restricting women’s rights was adopted. Pronatalist policies, prohibition of permanent contraception, the obligation to obtain the husband’s consent to travel, limited rights in the event of divorce, particularly with regard to child custody… As public policies become tougher, Iranian women lose again and again their independence and autonomy “. In 2021, the average wage gap between women and men was 41% in Iran, according to The world.
Behnaz Shakerian herself has long faced economic hardship because of her gender. ” I couldn’t make a living even though I was very skilled. I wanted to have a job in IT alongside my studies. But during a job interview, an employer looked me in the eye and said: “It is not a job that we can entrust to a woman”. It’s always like that. »
Mona Jafarian has never lived permanently in Iran but, like Behnaz, she knows very well what the daily life of her fellow citizens looks like. Arrived in France at a year and a half, she claims to have always remained very Iranian “. Throughout her youth, this content creator spent her summers in her home country. And the older she gets, the more she confronts gender apartheid and the oppression that women experience. ” When I went to the beach, I found it completely crazy that there were specific times for women and curtains in the water not to be exceeded, in case a man could see us “, she recalls.
A femininity that turns to humiliation
Nazila Golestan wears the veil for the first time at the age of seven. ” I cried all the way to school “, she remembers. In primary school, the school programs teach him that being ” a woman is something negative “. So Nazila cuts her hair, wears men’s clothes, and decides to pretend to be a boy. ” I was doing this because my femininity disgusted me “, she confides. What she describes as a trauma linked to her gender, she maintains it throughout her puberty. “ I was putting tape on my breasts, I thought dressing like a man would show that I was strong. »
A trauma shared by Mona Jafarian, yet ten years her junior. ” Waterskiing and having to dress up as a boy, then quickly get back on the boat to put on your veil. To be reprimanded, because the coat is not long enough. Getting sexualized when you’re barely 9 years old. It’s super violent and unbearable. When you see it from the inside, you wonder how Iranian women manage to put up with it every day. “, she says.
This is why when she joined France at the age of 25, Nazila Golestan relearned what it meant to be a woman. ” I have reconciled with my femininity. When I go on television as an activist, I purposely wear make-up, put on nail polish, to show the Iranians and the regime that you can be a woman, feminine, intelligent and strong. “, supports this spokesperson for the association HamAvaa national coalition for a democratic and secular Iran.
Passing the torch from generation to generation of Iranian women
For almost six months, images of young women, hair in the wind, made up, proud and with their heads held high in the streets of several cities, have been circulating on social networks. Videos of women working without a veil, writing the tag “ Death to Khamenei! on the walls, shouting at the top of our lungs this slogan which has become the symbol of Iranian protest: “Woman, life, freedom”. THE national uprising against the Islamic regime, triggered by the death of young Mahsa Amini after his arrest for a scarf judged ” badly worn on September 16, 2022, does not weaken.
And it is the new generation of young Iranian women and men who ” leads the whole nation, bears all the weight of the revolution on its back and takes all the risks. It’s an incredible, unstoppable generation. Hungry for democracy and freedom “, assures Mona Jafarian, founder of two collectives in support of Iranians, Azadi Women And Action 4 Iran.
As she points out, the entire diaspora is in awe of the courage of young Iranian women. ” Despite the threat of arrest, rape, torture, they resist. They go out without headscarves, which was unimaginable six months ago. For me, they have already won adds Pari Barkeshli. The latter knows the bid cost “. The famous pianist nevertheless tried to make things change, too, in his time. Active participant in the demonstrations against the wearing of the compulsory headscarf in 1980, she finally saw the regime consolidate, with the stalemate of the Iran-Iraq war.
Behnaz Shakerian does not hide his bitterness towards his elders. For her, it is the generation that experienced the change of regime from the Shah to Khomeini that holds a real share of the responsibility. ” I can’t excuse them for not trying to rebel more at the time, since they are the ones who put us in this shit! “, she lets go with force.
However, today more than ever, Behnaz continues to hope. Alone in France for four years, she is in daily contact with her friends from university who have remained in Iran. One evening, one of them said to him: I no longer see anything for my future. Sometimes I think dying is better than living here. But as the nationwide uprising gathers momentum, the morale of those close to her is changing. ” They are no longer frustrated as before. Sometimes I’m very scared for my friends, whether they die or get arrested, but I also understand that to succeed in a revolution, you have to pay for it with your life “, punctuates the student.
Social networks, a key tool for mobilization
Compared to past generations, Nazila, Pari, Mona and Behnaz all agree that today’s youth are no longer afraid and have nothing to lose. Above all, unlike previous movements, Iranian women have ample access to social networks. ” I like to say that we have 87 million journalists in Iran jokes Mona Jafarian.
In 1998, Nazila Golestan took part in student demonstrations. ” At that time, we were very little connected to the rest of the world. While the current generation was born with the smartphone, they have a much more open mind. And in fact, more varied cultural references, with messages light years away from those advocated by Islamic propaganda.
” With the internet, these young women see what is happening in the world. And how not to revolt when we compare the restrictions imposed on them with the freedom women have in other countries? asks Pari Barkeshli. Globalized, educated, organized, resolute Iranian women. Of a generation bulldozer that won’t reverse “says Mona Jafarian. Proud women, in Iran and abroad, who fight for freedom and ” a normal life “.
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