Every November, women around the world think about violence against women and how to eliminate it and add luster to the world. However, under the anti-female regime of Iranian mullahs, violence against women has exceeded many limits. So much so that the regime’s experts on violence against women acknowledge that Iran is a leader in this field.

Internationally, the average rate of women experiencing violence in their lifetime is one in every three women, but in Iran, the rate is 66% or two in every three women.

Laws that favor sons, encourage forced and child marriages, the government’s failure to criminalize violence against women, and the state being the main perpetrator of violence against women have led to a sharp increase in domestic violence against women. Of women were killed by their close partners, as well as hundreds of victims of honour killings.

The Mullah Parliament also passed a population growth plan in early November, which UN human rights experts said was “clearly contrary to international law”. Human rights experts call on the Iranian regime to repeal the new law that "strictly restricts access to abortion, contraception, voluntary sterilization services and related information, and directly violates the human rights of women under international law."

In November this year, we executed two other women in Iran on November 23 and 25. An unidentified woman and her husband were hanged in Yasuj prisons in Kohgiluyeh and Chaharmahal-e Bakhtiari for murder. Two days later, Maryam Khakpour was detained in Qazvin Central Prison on drug charges.

A 33-year-old mother of a 4-year-old child was sentenced to stoning for having an improper relationship with a man. Her sentence was later changed to execution.

The clergy regime continues to arrest and detain human rights defenders. At the same time, as the NCRI Women’s Committee reported this month, it imposed further restrictions on political prisoners.

These restrictions are not limited to political prisoners, but will affect all female prisoners. The overcrowded and unventilated women's ward in Urmia Central Prison restricted fresh air to rest, which eventually aroused angry protests from prisoners in early December.

Faced with such a miserable life, Iranian women deliberately add luster to the world and change their situation.

In November of this year, the world witnessed the active and widespread presence of women in the uprisings in Isfahan and Shahrekod, two nationwide teacher protests, and all smaller protests across the country.

On Friday, November 19th, on the 12th day of the sit-in protest, thousands of people joined the farmers in Isfahan.

The protesters covered a large area of ​​the Zayandrod riverbed. Thousands of women were among the protesters. They shouted, "Guns, tanks (useless), Mullahs must get lost", "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I only live for Iran", "If the water doesn't flow, Isfahan will rise", " Our enemy is here. They lie that it is the United States," "Beware of farmers calling for rebellion."

Fearing that the protests would spread to Isfahan and other parts of Iran, the clergy shut down the Internet to prevent the spread of images of this large-scale demonstration in support of farmers in Isfahan.

The farmers set up tents on the dry river bed in Zayanderud and began to sit in meditation on November 8, claiming water rights from the clergy. They hope to restore the flow of water into the river to help irrigate farmland that has become arid and barren.

Mullah’s mismanagement of Iran’s rivers and water resources has led to the destruction of agriculture and animal husbandry. Many farmers have to sell their livestock to survive.

The situation is particularly serious in Isfahan, which was once the largest river on the Iranian plateau, and the watery Zayanderud River has dried up. 

A week later, on Friday, November 26, thousands of women and men fought back and repelled the security forces' attacks on farmers in Isfahan.

Witnesses said that the widespread presence of women, active leadership of chants, and confrontation with security forces are extraordinary. Even if you can't distinguish their faces in the crowd, their voices and their singing are everywhere, calling for unity to fight against the country's number one enemy. They vowed not to leave, "until the water returns to the Zayanderud River".

On Friday, November 26, 2021, hundreds of security forces stormed in and attacked peaceful protesters who wanted to gather near the Pol-e Khajoo bridge on the dry riverbed of Zayanderud. Thousands of people scrambled to support the protesters and clashed with special units of the anti-riot team. People also clashed with the police on the streets of Isfahan.

The security forces dispersed the protesters, but they gathered again and eventually forced the security forces to evacuate the scene.

Although the pastor’s regime attacked and set fire to farmers’ tents at 4 am on Thursday, and sent text messages to the people of Isfahan to warn them not to participate in the protests, the protests still occurred.

The two-week protests initiated by farmers, asking them to share the right to water from Zayanderud, became political. Angry people and young people began to chant: "Go to Khamenei!" The woman's voice was loud and clear. .

Videos from Iran show that women lead a crowd to sing songs and rush to help people who have been beaten or arrested by security forces. The video shows the violent methods used by security forces to disperse the crowd. They also showed blood stains on the heads and backs of several protesters who were bruised by projectiles.

Government forces violently suppressed the protesters by firing tear gas and bird bombs, causing about 40 protesters to lose their sight and at least 100 injured. They arrested about 300 protest participants, including minors.

The people of Shahrekord also stood up to support the farmers in Isfahan and asked them to share water resources.

Women played a very active role in the four days of protests from November 21 to 24 and called on the protests to continue.

The security forces tried to stop the protests from spreading. By controlling the speech platform and its microphone, they tried to stop anti-government slogans. Plainclothes agents clashed with people and threw them off the platform. But the demonstrators continued to march, chanting anti-government slogans, and marched to the governor's office.

“Unless the mismanagement of the Islamic Republic and the water problems caused by the water mafia are resolved, we will not give up for a moment and leave the square,” the demonstrators vowed.

Experts on water shortages in Iran attribute the long-term drought to lower rainfall than usual, and to the government's mismanagement of the country's water resources over the years.

The state-run media wrote that the wrong policy of establishing Mobarakeh Steel in Isfahan in 1991 and Alloy Steel in Yazd in 1999 was one of the measures that led to the destruction of water resources. (State-run Mostaghel newspaper – November 22, 2021)

The production of every kilogram of steel consumes about 30,000 liters of water. In addition to the drying up of the Zayandehrud River, groundwater aquifers also face a high risk of drying up. (State-run Setareh Sobh newspaper-November 22, 2021)

Of course, the clergy’s media and newspapers will not report on the nuclear and missile industries. They are located in the same area and consume a lot of Zayandrud’s water.

Since Iran’s governing body cannot solve the worrying problem, it can only find the only solution by violently suppressing the protesters.

Women are very active in teacher protests across Iran. Most cities have seen the widespread presence of women who often lead chants.

Iranian teachers who love freedom held two national protests in 53 and 66 cities on November 11 and December 2, 2021.

The teachers’ protests are directed at their poor living conditions, low wages and high prices. They also condemned the clergy for ignoring their legal demands. They vowed to never give in until they got their rights.

In some cities, protesting teachers took pictures of victims of the November 2019 uprising.

The National Security Forces (SSF) attacked protesters in Tehran and tore up their photos. SSF also blocked filming of protests. They violently arrested several teachers.

In Mashhad, security forces used violence to disperse teachers.

In Gorgen, teachers patched their eyes in solidarity with the Isfahan protesters who were shot in the eyes by the SSF and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) last Friday.

In some cities, including Ardabil, teachers held protests despite the cold weather and snow.

In Isfahan, women chanted: "Teachers stand up and eliminate discrimination."

In Rasht, they chanted: "The imprisoned teachers must be released!"

In Tabriz, they chanted: "The teachers are awake and irritated by discrimination."

A nationwide protest by Iranian teachers was launched in September to obtain their legal requirements for decent wages and living conditions. The lives of most teachers are very difficult, and their wages are only one-quarter or one-third of the poverty line.

Women’s active and widespread presence in Iran’s anti-government protests is tantamount to their equal participation in the political leadership of society. Iranian women have proven that they are indeed an equal generation, and they deserve the support of all women’s rights advocates in the struggle for freedom and equality.

The copyrights of all materials published on this website have been registered in © 2016 Women's Committee of the National Resistance Council of Iran. To obtain permission to copy, redistribute, or publish the materials published on this website, you should write to the NCRI Women's Committee. Please provide a link to the original article on our website women.ncr-iran.org.

The copyrights of all materials published on this website have been registered in © 2016 Women's Committee of the National Resistance Council of Iran. To obtain permission to copy, redistribute, or publish the materials published on this website, you should write to the NCRI Women's Committee. Please provide a link to the original article on our website women.ncr-iran.org.

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