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.”
