Iran International
Ali Rabiei, a former labor minister and government spokesman, says discrimination against women in Iran is a significant factor propelling Iran's protests.
In a note published by the reformist Etemad newspaper Monday, Rabiei said one must examine economic indices with a gender-based bias to understand why women are such a strong driving force in the current protests.
He pointed out that the rate of women’s participation in Iran’s economy has never exceeded 17 percent compared with 60 percent for men, whereas the global average for women stands at 50 percent, adding that the rate which stood at 12 percent in 2014 climbed to 17.6 percent in 2018, the highest in the past two decades.
Rabiei added that unfortunately this modest gain was wiped out in the past three years, mainly because of the COVID pandemic and women’s economic participation now stands at 13 percent. “One of the country’s fundamental problems is that women’s health and education has improved but there have not been opportunities for women to expand their role in the economy and politics.
Around 25 percent of Iranian women over the age of eighteen have higher education.
“This means that women have achieved social status but have not had the opportunity to participate and faced barriers. The same applies to the middle class,” he wrote.
“Undoubtedly a section of those demanding change in the recent protests belong to this group,” Rabiei said and opined that the feminine character of the protests can be the outcome of inequality that bars women from accessing economic opportunities.
But the issue for many women is not just jobs, as they understand that there is systemic discrimination against them and lack of social freedoms. After all, the protests did not ignite because of economic demands, but for the freedom to walk in public free of the Islamic dress code.
Hardliners generally define the role of women in society first and foremost as mothers and wives. In his speeches, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei often tells women to marry early and have children. He has also insisted, on many occasions, that wearing the hijab does not limit women’s social role and their careers.
“One of the greatest mistakes of western thinking about the issue of [the role of] women is this gender equality... Why should women be asked to carry out tasks [fit for men]? What is the glory in having women carry out tasks [fit for] men? I am sorry that sometimes women themselves are sensitive about this issue,” he said in a speech in April 2014.
“The main issue with respect to women's emancipation in the West is dragging women from home to the factory, using them as cheap labor,” he said in a recent speech in which he insisted men and women have equal rights in Islam but different roles and that women's primary and most important duty is being mothers and wives, that is, their role as housewives.
With Khamenei’s backing, hardliners battled fiercely to prevent the government of President Hassan Rouhani from implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly its Goal 5 regarding eradication of discrimination against women and their empowerment.
Hardliners held rallies to protest the government’s plans to implement the UN guidelines and even tried to smear Rouhani during his reelection campaign in 2017 by claiming that the guidelines included immoral things such as “teaching students about homosexuality”.
Ensieh Khazali, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, said last week that the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is now being implemented but certain parts would be modified according to the government’s own views regarding their appropriateness.
Many have strongly criticized Khazali for her unverified claim about the implementation of the UN guidelines during a live televised debate with her reformist predecessor Masoumeh Ebtekar. Critics say the reason for hardliners’ objection to the implementation of the guidelines was their political rivalry with Rouhani.
“Let’s not fear having a dictatorship in the future. Let’s not fear Iran's dismemberment. These fears are not real … Let’s agree on [our] minimum demands and dig the grave of this rotten corpse,” the Canada-based Hamed Esmaeilion wrote in an Instagram post Sunday.
He wrote the comment on the anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s return from exile to Tehran in 1979 and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The post has been liked by nearly 200,000 so far.
In his long commentary, Esmaeilion urged Iranians both inside the country and abroad to unite, whether republicans or monarchists, belonging to minority religious or ethnic groups, on the right of the political spectrum or on the left.
“Many of the mistakes of the past will not be repeated if we leave political disputes to after the toppling of the descendants of the demon [Khomeini],” he wrote adding that unreasonable arguments would only delay the waves of protests in Iran where people no longer fear fighting the regime.
Like the exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, activists Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi, and footballer Ali Karimi, many on social media have expressed support for Esmaeilion’s membership in an opposition council to be formed for transition from the Islamic Republic.
Last week, Prince Reza Pahlavi also urged pro-democracy forces to unite. “I’m extending my hand, once again, for cooperation to all pro-democracy forces, including individuals, parties and groups, to support the Iranian national revolution,” he said in a statement published via his social media accounts.
The exiled prince’s plea came soon after his supporters launched a campaign to endorse him as the trustee of the Iranian people in transition to secular rule. Over 433,000 have so far signed the petition launched in mid-January.
Esmaeilion and others have recently been under heavy fire on social media for not having joined the campaign to give power of attorney to the exiled prince. Critics of the campaign say it has played a divisive role, caused rifts among the opposition, and led to the cooling of the revolutionary fervor on the streets in Iran.
In his recent statement, the exiled prince set three preconditions for cooperation with others: Accepting to ensure Iran's territorial integrity and the people’s right to determine the form of the future political system through a free vote as well as belief in human rights-based secular democracy.
Some Kurdish, Baluch, Turkic speaking groups and individuals, and those supporting federalism, argue that the mention of territorial integrity is divisive and is a sign federalism will not be tolerated. Others, particularly supporters of the exiled prince say demanding federalism is only a cover for separatism and dismemberment of Iran.
In the past four months, protesters across the country, particularly in Kurdish and Baluchi cities, have often chanted slogans such as “From Baluchestan (or Kordestan) to Tehran, we sacrifice our lives for Iran” to repudiate claims of separatism and stress the unity of all Iranians against the regime.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians welcomed a New Year message tweeted by Prince Reza Pahlavi, Alinejad, Karimi, Boniadi, and Esmaeilion as well as actress Golshifteh Farahani on December 31 in which these opposition figures had wished that further solidarity and organizing could make 2023 the last year of the clerical rule in Iran.
Many believed that the tweet heralded the formation of a revolutionary council in exile that could take on the role of leading the Iranian revolution in the absence of strong revolutionary political parties and leaders in the country.