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While some 280 women and organizations working for the defense of women’s rights ‎had declared the International Women’s Day on March 8th as the day of solidarity with ‎the Iranian women’s movement and while this expression of this solidarity had been ‎supported by 6 women winners of the Nobel Peace prize and mentioned in the ‎declaration, Iranian women activists did not have any public commemoration or event on ‎March 8th this year. ‎

The reality is that unbearable pressure that is exerted on women activists in Iran and the ‎costs that are associated with legal activities have led them not to hold any public events ‎this year. This is because in practical term, the possibility of holding a normal and non-‎violent event did not exist this year.‎

The writer of this article who has participated in many March 8 celebrations over the ‎recent years has not see any signs of joy in these events. For the women’s movement in ‎Iran, this day has become an event to review the year’s activities and to repeat and ‎maintain their protests over legal gender inequality. More than being an event of ‎celebration, this day has at best brought us the free tribune through which we can hear ‎calls that normally are not easily addressed in public. At worst, we have either been ‎attacked by the police, been insulted by them or, as happened this year, been even ‎deprived of gathering together and having a tribune to express our voices and say what ‎we have to say.‎

Still, even though no public even was organized on this day this year, March 8 was ‎celebrated as the International Women’s Day through many gatherings before and after ‎March 8th. For example, on March 3rd, a gathering was held to celebrate women writers ‎such as Sedighe Dolatabadi and Simin Behbahani, and on March 6 Daftare Tahkim ‎Vahdat student organization (Office of Student Solidarity) held a seminar on the issues ‎confronting the women’s movement in which women activists participated. Other events ‎included the semi-public gathering organized by the Talashgaran Salamat, a women’s ‎gathering analyzing women’s achievements from March 8 of last year to March 8th of this ‎year, etc.‎

Another feature of this year’s International Women’s Day was the launching on the ‎Internet of a non-competitive writing and documentation exercise for the events of the ‎past year. In fact, 8th of March this year was a cyber event for women activists. For ‎example, the website of Daftare Tahkim Vahdat (i.e. Advar News) published a special ‎report on the occasion of March 8th in which many civil activists, thinkers, students, ‎women activists and journalists published their views on this day and used the occasion ‎to analyze the current conditions of the women’s movement in Iran. Other sites such as ‎Madreseh Feministi (the Feminist School), Khabarname Amirkabir (the Amirkabir ‎newsletter), Meydan, Rooz, Gooya, Iran Emrouz, among others too all issued special ‎newsletters, news and reports over the issues of concern to the women’s movement prior ‎to March 8th. ‎

Therefore, the absence of a public physical event this year did not deny us public ‎engagement, and in fact gave us the opportunity to commemorate this day for a whole ‎week and in a different manner, while also allowing us to review the events of the ‎women’s movement during the past year and make conclusions over them.‎

So if in the past the celebrations on this day were limited to women’s activists, this year ‎some political groups too felt the responsibility to commemorate this day. With every ‎passing year, March 8th is becoming more recognized in the universities. ‎

So while Iranian women did not have their own special event on March 8th this year, and ‎thus could not at the minimum sing hymns and present their views, they created many ‎‎“events” on the Internet in which they rejected the limitations that have been imposed on ‎them with a loud “No.”‎