TW: Murder, Domestic Violence
“In February of 1979 Tehran was in chaos”. Says my grandmother, who lived during the Islamic revolution. Months ago when we spoke, she was unsure of how long the protests would last. She said: “we’re far from a revolution, people will get scared away”. She was hopeless then, but in our most recent conversation she said proudly, “Iran is in chaos. This is a revolution”.
Here are some under 10-minute actions you can take to directly save lives:
- Sign petitions on https://www.change.org/
A lot of people think signing petitions won’t make a difference. IT DOES.
- Post on social media and take it seriously!
As a result of abundant attention social media has brought to the crisis in Iran, many activists have been released, prisoners have received political sponsors, and many executions have been paused as a result of the calls to action. This is one of the first times that people posting on social media, interacting, and using hashtags has led to an actionable difference.
Some reliable sources:
@Nazanin Nour
@Nazanin Boniadi
@Masih Alinejad
@1500-tasvir
@Chelseahartisme
(On both Instagram and Twitter)
@Bethevoice.community
@Smohyeddin
@Middleeastmatters
@Damitdasklaas
(Only on Instagram)
- Email and call your MPs and representatives. Request more media coverage! You can find a link of all MPs for different provinces in Canada below!
- Attend protests.
Reach out to your local Iranian community. We welcome each and every one of you. We appreciate your care and support. You can reach out to Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton (IHSE) via email, instagram, or twitter! We are also a part of the Iranian Students’ Association at the University of Alberta (ISAUA).
- Try to stay updated.
Remember detained, and murdered individuals are humans that have a story. They’re not just names and numbers, and the number of people in danger is increasing as we speak.
- Lastly, please be kind to yourselves and to your Iranian friends. Use your privilege wisely and be the voice of Iranians.
Four decades ago, Iranians swelled with pride, hope and expectations of a better future. Dreams of freedom and independence from Western countries controlling Iran fired up the revolutionaries: The Islamic republic (IRGC), a theocracy built on ideological choices inspired to great extent by Ayatollah Khomeini. It was a rapid, great change: it led to deep and long lasting wounds. New rules were put into effect to forbid anything that might lead people astray and prevent them from ascending to a heavenly afterlife. These measures include strict controls on media, which isolated Iranians from Western influences; the absolute segregation of the sexes in public places, mandatory headscarves for women, bans on alcohol and musical instruments, and even rules forbidding girls from attending elementary school without the mandatory headscarf. It went on and on, zealously and brutally enforced by the IRGC morality police and parliamentary forces (Basijis).
It didn’t take too long for people to start protesting against this dictatorship and for Iranians to face extreme backlash and criminal violations in return. According to sources, 120 000 Iranian citizens: men, women, and children have been terrorized during anti-government protests since the Islamic revolution in 1979. Repression, genocide, massacre and terror became the day-to-day reality of Iranians. These horrors drastically affected Iranian children, as one of the most vulnerable populations who are essentially never safe under this dictatorship. Children continue to suffer from child marriage, violent family dynamics, unacceptable work conditions, and malnutrition.We can look to the quality of life that children experienced in 2021 to reflect these atrocities.
In 2021 alone, in the province of Sistan Baluchestan (Iran), 12,000 children under the age of five were suffering from malnutrition (Doe, 2022). Iran registered 172 marriages of young girls between the age of five to nine years old (NCRI Woman Committee, 2022). Children are facing severe violence at home; Mona Heydari (17) was beheaded by her adult husband who then proceeded to parade her served head on the streets to prove his honor (Esfandiari, 2022). Many young women and girls face domestic violence in the family, as well; daughter and child Romina Ashrafi (14) was beheaded by her father in an act of honor to his community (Esfandiari, 2020).
During protests in different years, hundreds of children and teenagers were tortured and killed. On January 8th, 2020, in an intentional act of terror, the Islamic Republic shot a passenger plane (#PS752), killing all passengers and crew including 20 children. In the most recent uprisings following the death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini in September 2022, at least 70 children were reportedly killed by the IRGC forces.
UNICEF has failed to take any proper action towards holding the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable for their acts of terror and has also failed to raise awareness of the countless protests and calls to action for change. It wasn’t until National Children’s Day, November 27th, 2022, that UNICEF “responded” to the violations Iranian children have been facing over the past four decades, with only an Instagram story that quotes that they “condemn the killing of Iranian children”.
As anti-government protests roil cities in Iran for the fifth month since Mahsa Amini’s death, tens of thousands of Iranians living abroad have also marched on the streets of their countries to stand with their people. And now, the time has come; “It is time for concrete action by the international community to hold Iran’s government accountable.” (United Nations, 2022). Condemnation is NOT enough.
In the past five months Iranians all around the world have proved that hope prevails. We have two possible paths in front of us: either repression will increase to crack down on every form of protest, or resistance groups will form to confront security forces.
The most important means of resistance that Iranians have is hope. To know we are standing on the right side of the history, Iranians are doing everything in their power to get Western society involved and inspiringly, our work has already had positive outcomes:
- The Human Rights Council has created a fact-finding mission, related to the protests that began on September 16, 2022.
- UN expels Iran from women’s rights body, accusing the Islamic republic of systematic violations of women’s rights.
- politicians across the globe are sponsoring Iranian political prisoners. So, they can use their political sway in communicating with Iranian ambassadors, other politicians and human rights organizations in bringing attention to the life of Iranian prisoners.
- On January 19th 2023, the European Parliament voted to urge terrorist listing of IRGC.
- Organizations such as NIAC, that are lobbying for the Islamic Republic have lost their worldwide credibility.
These are all examples proving the power of activism. The power of care, and the power of hope! Iran will never be the same. for women, for life, and for freedom.
Written by: Parishad Kavyani
Edited by: Sara Assaf
Works Cited:
Al Jazeera. “UN Expels Iran From Women’s Rights Body for Protest Crackdowns.” United Nations News | Al Jazeera, 14 Dec. 2022, www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/14/un-expels-iran-from-un-womens-rights-body-for-protest-crackdowns.
Doe, Jane. “Child Malnutrition on the Rise in Sistan and Baluchistan.” IranWire, 18 Mar. 2022, https://prod.iranwire.com/en/news/71125.
Esfandiari, Golnaz. “Beheading of 17-Year-Old Shakes Iran, Renews Debate About Violence Against Women.” RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, 9 Feb. 2022, www.rferl.org/a/iran-beheading-honor-killing-violence-women/31693367.html.
“Gruesome Death of Iranian Teenager Shows Shame of ‘Honor’ Killings.” RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, 8 June 2020, http://www.rferl.org/a/iranian-father-s-gruesome-murder-of-daughter-shows-shame-of-honor-killings/30653304.html.
Iran International Newsroom. “In Fear of IRGC Terrorist Listing, Regime Officials Threaten Europe.” Iran International, 18 Jan. 2023, www.iranintl.com/en/202301186217.
“Iran: The World Must Take Action to Protect Women and Protesters.” ARTICLE 19, 27 Sept. 2022, http://www.article19.org/resources/iran-protect-women-and-protesters.
“Killings and Detentions of Children in Iran Must End, UN Child Rights Committee Urges.” UN News, 17 Oct. 2022, news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129612.
NCRI Women Committee. “Iran Registers 172 Marriages of Young Girls Between 5 and 9 Years Old.” NCRI Women Committee, 17 Jan. 2022, women.ncr-iran.org/2022/01/17/172-marriages-of-young-girls.
Persian, Voa. “UNICEF Condemns Violence, Abuse of Children in Iran Protests.” VOA, 28 Nov. 2022, http://www.voanews.com/a/unicef-condemns-violence-abuse-of-children-in-iran-protests/6852752.html.
Save the Children International. “Investigation Needed Into Treatment of Children During Iran Protests: Save the Children.” Save the Children International, 7 Nov. 2022, http://www.savethechildren.net/news/investigation-needed-treatment-children-during-iran-protests-save-children.
Sinaee, Maryam. “Protests in Iran, Abroad Boost Sense of Unity, Solidarity.” Iran International, 24 Oct. 2022, http://www.iranintl.com/en/202210243395.
“Time for ‘Concrete Action’ by International Community to Hold Iran’s Security Forces to Account.” UN News, 27 Oct. 2022, news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129937.
“UN Rights Body Launches Iran Human Rights Investigation.” UN News, 24 Nov. 2022, news.un.org/en/story/2022/11/1131022.
VOA Persian Service. “International Politicians Sponsoring Iranian Prisoners.” VOA, 2 Jan. 2023, http://www.voanews.com/a/international-politicians-are-sponsoring-iranian-prisoners-/6899587.html.
Campus UNICEF 