Since the Iranian women have always dressed so sharp with many going to Paris for their clothes, it must be a big letdown for those still in Iran. Those Iranian women living in the West now are no doubt happy that they can choose the clothese they want to wear. When I go into an Iranian market, there might be a couple of women wearing headscaves, but mainly the women are dressed the same as other Western women.
A courageous push for rights in Muslim world
Rekha Basu, [email protected]11:12 p.m. CST February 24, 2015
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
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Last June, Iranian state television reported that Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad had been raped by three men in London. The report said that in a drug-affected state, before the assaults happened, the writer had taken off some clothes in front of her son.
Alinejad denied the entire story, calling it a smear campaign against her. She said the report was concocted in retaliation for her creating a Facebook page, "My Stealthy Freedom," which invited Iranian women to post pictures of themselves without head scarves. Under a 35-year-old law passed by Iranian hardliners, women are required to wear scarves publicly. Within five weeks, the page had half a million likes and Alinejad was "bombarded" with pictures.
The response did not sit well with Iran's leaders, Alinejad wrote in a first-person essay in Time magazine, so the faked rape story apparently was intended to stigmatize and shame her, implying she had brought a gang rape on herself. One TV commentator suggested men had a right to rape women who don't wear the head-to-toe coverings called hijab, because they couldn't be expected to control themselves. A conservative commentator for state TV used his Facebook page to call Alinejad "a whore." But a coalition of international human rights organizations calls her a leader, and gave her a women's rights award Tuesday in Switzerland. The 20-member Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy meets each year to pressure the 10-year-old United Nations Human Rights Council to address human rights violations around the world.
Continue reading at:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/rekha-basu/2015/02/25/
A courageous push for rights in Muslim world
Rekha Basu, [email protected]11:12 p.m. CST February 24, 2015
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
Last June, Iranian state television reported that Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad had been raped by three men in London. The report said that in a drug-affected state, before the assaults happened, the writer had taken off some clothes in front of her son.
Alinejad denied the entire story, calling it a smear campaign against her. She said the report was concocted in retaliation for her creating a Facebook page, "My Stealthy Freedom," which invited Iranian women to post pictures of themselves without head scarves. Under a 35-year-old law passed by Iranian hardliners, women are required to wear scarves publicly. Within five weeks, the page had half a million likes and Alinejad was "bombarded" with pictures.
The response did not sit well with Iran's leaders, Alinejad wrote in a first-person essay in Time magazine, so the faked rape story apparently was intended to stigmatize and shame her, implying she had brought a gang rape on herself. One TV commentator suggested men had a right to rape women who don't wear the head-to-toe coverings called hijab, because they couldn't be expected to control themselves. A conservative commentator for state TV used his Facebook page to call Alinejad "a whore." But a coalition of international human rights organizations calls her a leader, and gave her a women's rights award Tuesday in Switzerland. The 20-member Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy meets each year to pressure the 10-year-old United Nations Human Rights Council to address human rights violations around the world.
Continue reading at:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/rekha-basu/2015/02/25/
