Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh is a leading Iranian women’s rights activist. She spoke with Rooz about the recent events leading up to the decision to remove a controversial family “protection” bill from the floor of the Majlis, Iran’s parliament. Here are the details.
Rooz (R): What events lead to the decision for this family protection bill to be taken off the Majlis agenda?
Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh (MA): About a month ago, the chairman of Majlis’ judiciary committee, who also happens to be a member of the assembly’s leadership, announced that the committee had voted to review and discuss the bill, paving the way for a Majlis vote as soon as it returned from its recess. This announcement prompted a wide variety of women’s rights groups to campaign for the formation of a wide coalition against the anti-family bill. The coalition launched a media campaign against the bill utilizing domestic and foreign newspapers, and women’s movement websites and in a two-week period turned the bill into a national social issue. At the same time, protesting women exerted pressures on Majlis deputies through letters, postcards, brochures and statements protesting the bill. We had also decided that if civil and peaceful means would not yield the desired results, we would stage sit-ins in from of the Majlis to demonstrate our protests to the world, something that was publicly announced by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi.
R: Did you expect the Majlis to remove the bill from its agenda?
MA: The so called “family protection” bill has many shortcomings which if passed into law, after an article by article debate, would have taken up much of Majlis’ energy while also making the public even angrier, particularly as the opponents of the bill would have continued their media drive. Even if we disregard the disagreements between the administration and the judiciary over the manipulated provisions of the bill over the changes made by the government, the protests alone constituted sufficient reason to temporarily withdraw the bill from the floor. To these issues, add the collective and unprecedented will of women groups which may still hold their sit-in in from of the Majlis, creating a political crisis on the even of the next presidential elections. Therefore, political prudence required that the threat by women would turn into reality, prompting Majlis speaker Mr. Larijani to remove the bill so as to build credibility for himself among women.
R: What in your opinion will be the impact of this action on the women’s movement and its relationship with the Majlis?
MA: Women’s movement activists, particularly those that took part in the wide coalition, have so far had positive results from this solidarity. The most important of this is the unprecedented activism of the women’s movement in Majlis since 1981. This time we saw Simin Behbahani, Shirin Ebadi, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and tens of other women activists in the corridors of the Majlis spreading their word and making their voices heard, whereas in the past they only joined hands during street protests. This change is important because the women’s movement has now attained such authority that it can engage with the political ruling establishment to create a balance of power or sorts.
R: Can this effort that lead to a positive change in the Majlis also be used for other issues, stoning for example?
MA: Through their talks with women, Majlis deputies demonstrated that they have the capacity to hold talks with them, even though creating the atmosphere for such talks is not easy. The presence of these women at the Majlis was the culmination of hard and continuous work of all groups. Women’s presence in the Majlis constitutes a turning point in the history of the civil protests which demonstrates how the public sphere and protests can be expanded beyond the street protests and sloganeering on the streets. This event demonstrates that even under the most oppressive conditions such as the one we are currently going through, women’s movement can still launch initiatives to break this atmosphere.
