Iranian Women to state sit-in protest

Adnkronos International:

Women in Tehran have organised a sit-in protest against gender discrimination to be held in front of Tehran University on Sunday, 12 June. In an appeal signed by 30 women's groups and a hundred personalities in the world of culture, the arts, cinema and journalism, the women call upon "all women and men who believe in the equality of the sexes and are for the elimination of all laws that discriminate against women, to participate in this peaceful protest." READ MORE

"For 27 years they have trampled on our rights and we have kept silent, now the moment has arrived to raise the voice and ask for the end to discrimination," said Manijeh Hekmat, the director of the movie Female Prison, which was critically acclaimed at the Venice Film Festival in 2003. In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), she said that "while in many parts of the world, citizens loudly ask for reform, respect for human rights and democracy, the silence [in Iran] is no longer acceptable."

"In a country where 67 percent of the university students are women and where half of the working population are women, to allow only men to govern the country is not only an embarressment but also inadmissable, " added the film director.

The initiaves of the women, in view of the upcoming presidential elections on 17 June, where female candidates have been barred from standing, have also multiplied.

"We do not believe very much in the promises of the candidates, and when the polling stations close, they would have already forgotten all their pretty words," added Manijeh Hekmat.

The Iranian director like many other women in her country, does not beleive that with the current constitution, it will be possible to win the battle for democracy. "We believe in the need to seriously take into consideration the changes in the constitution, if we want to live in a democratic society that is fair."

I will be posting a calendar of pro-democracy events scheduled over the next few weeks soon.