Thank you ECOSOC – Thank you CSW!

Written by ACI in 16 December 22

The Human Rights Council vote to establish a fact-finding mission on November 24, and now this latest timely action at ECOSOC is a clear indication that the global community is finally hearing the voices of the Iranian people and not what the regime misrepresents.

The expulsion of the Islamic Republic from the Commission on the Status of Women is an unprecedented step taken by the UN and the international community. Thank you for hearing us and taking this extraordinary step.

Discrimination against the women and girls of Iran is as old as the Islamic Republic. Gender and religious discrimination are legal, systematic and institutional on every level and aspect of their lives.

For forty-three years the women’s movement has fought alongside other civil and equal rights movements in Iran and women’s activists have been effective in furthering their aims. They have endured violence, judicial and extra-judicial arrests and detentions, and torture including rape and sexual harassment that plagues their existence even after release from custody because of the traditional and patriarchal practices condoned by discriminatory laws. Women in Iran are subjected to honour killings with impunity while others choose to take their lives rather than live a life that is not of their choosing.

It is tragic that a beautiful young life had to be lost before the world opened its eyes and ears and heard the people. This is a crucial point to remember. The ugly brutality of the regime in the age of social media and global connectivity was laid bare for all to witness despite its determined efforts to close up Iran through internet restrictions and censorship. The world saw what women have experienced in the last forty-three years.

Any advancement of women and/or attained position is through the sheer tenacity and courage of the girls and women of Iran and not the planning or political will of the regime.

The Islamic regime cannot hide behind false claims of progress anymore. It cannot abuse the international system anymore. The Human Rights Council vote to establish a fact-finding mission on November 24, and now this latest timely action at ECOSOC is a clear indication that the global community is finally hearing the voices of the Iranian people and not what the regime misrepresents.

Mahsa Jina Amini’s face will shine brightly in Iran’s history and the over a century-old fight for women’s rights in Iran.

May Jina and all those brave people who have given their lives in her name rest in POWER.