Iran is a country which requires the monitoring of the international community regarding ‎developments related to women’s struggle for equality. There are several reasons for ‎such a need. ‎

Iran plays an important role in international exchanges. It is logical for the international ‎community to prefer stability in Iran given the country's important role in world trade. ‎Stability in a country like Iran, however, is attainable only by meeting the demands and ‎needs of society and the Iranian people, on a consistent basis. In other words, the ‎reaction of the international community to the Iranian government, which is based on the ‎Iranian government’s behavior and demands, is not the only factor in determining ‎stability. It is necessary for the international community to take into account the demands ‎and needs of the Iranian people in order to create stability in the country. ‎

The Iranian government does not exist in a vacuum. In general, governments are defined ‎by international exchanges, not in their absence. Therefore, in all exchanges ‎‎(governmental or nongovernmental) that define the government at the international level, ‎the issue of human rights violations in Iran must be mentioned as a sensitive subject ‎requiring attention. Attaining this sensitivity is a fundamental request of the Iranian ‎people, a people who seriously oppose any foreign attack or overthrow of their regime by ‎foreign intervention and sanctions are adding to their mounting daily problems to make ‎ends meet. As a result, people are not ready to fully and wholeheartedly join peaceful ‎protests under that level of pressure. ‎

One discernible characteristic of human rights violations, which has become systematic, ‎are gender-based human rights violations. In Iran, laws are discriminatory toward ‎women in a clear and obvious way. Discriminatory laws against women are found in ‎every area and women from all social layers and classes lose their “mental health” under ‎the pressure of these laws. ‎

Is it right for the international community to remain silent when tools of oppression ‎against women are so widespread that they distinguish Iran even from other Muslim and ‎hardliner countries? This level of oppression is not even seen in other majority-Muslim ‎nations, and Iran has acquired an especially violent reputation for its treatment of women. ‎

The issue of oppressing Iranian women is controversial in other respects as well. In Iran, ‎the level of women’s protests has increased so much and the Campaign to Change ‎Discriminatory Laws has become so active that it has led to widespread suppression of ‎women. Data shows that during the past year and a half alone, close to fifty people were ‎arrested in connection with women’s struggle for equality. ‎

That level of oppression must be discussed by the international community and seriously ‎protested. In addition, the international community must take practical steps to alleviate ‎discriminatory domestic laws that exist against Iranian women, in reaction to which ‎widespread protests have taken place inside and outside Iran. The international ‎community is gradually beginning to pay attention to the dire condition of human rights ‎violations in Iran, but that attention is still not proportional to the danger facing the ‎Iranian people to voice their demands. The goal of Iranian people’s sustained ‎participation in various civil movements is to make the international community aware of ‎the severity of conditions in Iran so that the international community may react ‎appropriately to the demands and needs of the Iranian people. ‎

Iranians expect their demands and wants concerning human rights to become part of the ‎international discourse and for civil and political institutions across the globe (not just in ‎the West) not to remain silent, and instead repeat their warning, recommendations and ‎insistence on the Iranian government’s observance of basic human rights principles. ‎Western media have a large responsibility in this respect, one which they currently are ‎ignoring. Western media do not pay enough attention to the condition of human rights in ‎Iran, often sacrificing coverage of such violations for political advertisement focused on ‎nuclear crisis and related news. ‎

Even if the continuation of current stance of Western media and governments toward Iran ‎concludes with the resolution of certain disputes between Iran and foreign governments ‎and creation a perception of political stability in Iran, such stability is fragile and ‎vulnerable – because the international community has not acknowledged the demands of ‎the Iranian people, simply focusing on the demands of the Iranian government. ‎