They are the only army in the region, perhaps in the world to field women in front line combat. In recent battles these women fought hand to hand along side the men. They showed no hesitation in fighting close up.
Iranian women's century-long movement for equality has perhaps entered its most brilliant phase in the post-shah period. True, the clerical regime's blatant dual oppression of women has been and continues to be a national disaster. Yet, for the first time in Iran's history, the women's movement has emerged as an integral part of the broader struggle for freedom and social justice, adding new depth and guarantees of success. Unlike previous eras, when the progress of the women's movement was the function of an individual woman's heroism, or dictated by the social and political environment at the time, the Resistance today against the clerical regime comprises within its ranks a generation of women who have overcome the obstacles which traditionally limited women's serious involvement in the struggle outside the family setting.
In this struggle, women have played a consistent, disciplined and equal role on two fronts: the quest for social justice and women's equality. They have focused on political issues, cultural matters, human rights, and even such basic questions as a woman's right to choose her own clothing. At no time during the reign of the mullahs have women succumbed to the pressures and persecution directed at them.
In the early days, after the shah's fall in February 1979, veteran women political activists, many of whom had just been released from prison, led the way. Most prominent among them were women members of the People's Mojahedin, the main opposition during the shah's time, soon to emerge as the principal resistance force against Khomeini and his retinue. Women's prior participation in the anti-shah movement acted as a springboard for their defiance of Khomeini's attempts to roll back the clock. Soon, women from all walks of life, from blue-collar workers to highly trained professionals and housewives with different educational backgrounds, took to the streets to protest.
On March 7, 1979, less than a month after the overthrow of the monarchy, Khomeini ordered the observance of a dress code for women in offices and public places. Iranian women challenged the directive in a major demonstration in Tehran on March 8, International Women's Day. The protest did not stop Khomeini from pressing on. Soon, gangs of thugs and club-wielders roamed the streets, chanting "either the veil or a hit on the head," and assaulting women in public. On March 11, the Mojahedin issued a statement denouncing the decree. The statement said: "Any use of force to impose any sort of veil or dress code on the women of this country... is irrational and unacceptable. Our revolution cannot accept any second thoughts on or denial of Iranian women's complete judicial, legal, political and social rights."
These events marked the beginning of a difficult, non- violent political struggle that lasted two and half years, until June 1981. For women, of course, the price was much heavier than for men. They were not only insulted, beaten and attacked on the streets, but also had to tolerate pressures and scorn at home, where parents were not yet prepared to accept such activism by their daughters. During this period, scores of women were killed, seriously wounded or arrested by the mullahs' Revolutionary Guards and para- military groups.
A high school student in the southern city of Shiraz, Nasrin Rostami was attacked by guards as she was distributing Mojahedin literature in 1980. One eye was gouged out, and she died a few days later in the hospital. Similar incidents occurred all across the country, where women members and sympathizers of the Mojahedin were the prime targets of the government-organized hooligans and official repressive forces. The active presence in the social and political arenas of Mojahedin women and girls wearing headscarves was a major impediment to Khomeini's attempts to force women back into their homes under the pretext of Islam. On April 27, 1981, women supporters of the Mojahedin, many mothers among them, staged a 150,000-strong demonstration to protest against the emerging dictatorship and brutalities. The protest was described by Iran watchers as the first mass expression of defiance against the new order.
On June 20, the Mojahedin organized another peaceful demonstration by half a million of their supporters in Tehran.. Aware of the implications of the march, Khomeini issued personal orders to stop the throngs of people marching toward the parliament at all costs. Using heavy machine guns, the Guards began shooting indiscriminately. Hundreds were killed or wounded, and thousands arrested. Women and young girls constituted a sizable portion of the victims. The reign of terror and mass executions began that same evening.
One of the first groups of victims were 12 teenage girls, arrested on June 20, 1981. Their identities had not even been established when they were sent before the firing squad. In a statement in the state-controlled daily, Ettela'at, on June 24, 1981, the "Public Relations Office" of the Prosecutor General published the pictures of the girls, taken just before their death, with a notice to their parents to go to Evin Prison to identify the bodies.
The elimination of all avenues of political activity led many people to join the underground Resistance that began subsequent to the June 20 massacre. The scope of women's involvement in the nationwide struggle is reflected in the fact that tens of thousands of women have been executed on political charges by the regime since June 20, 1981, notwithstanding the tens of thousands of women arrested and tortured in the same period. Their participation has steadily increased, both numerically and qualitatively, unlike previous eras, when harsh conditions and brutal clampdowns succeeded in pushing women to the fringes. As the Resistance against the clerics has advanced, women have continued to take on more of the movement's serious responsibilities, attaining leadership roles. Tens of thousands, from all walks of life, have joined the Resistance, investing their lives in the prospects it offers for a new, free life for Iranian women.
Besides their crucial role in the organized Resistance, women have become indispensable to most expressions of anti- government protest. On April 4, 1995, some 50,000 took to the streets of Islamshahr and four other south Tehran townships. Women have also been prominent in other protests in cities, factories, educational institutions, etc. Aware of the severe punishments, ordinary women nevertheless try to defy the mullahs' anti-women laws and regulations, including the mandatory dress code.
The Resistance believes that it is not enough to provide legal safeguards for equality. Equality must be realized in all aspects of political, social, and family life in a realistic, non-formalistic manner. The rights of women should be observed not out of compassion, or in a purely theoretical sense, but on the basis of the reality of their equality with men.
The first step is to create the opportunity for women to choose freely; in other words build relationships that are unimpeded by distinctions and discrimination based on gender. The women in the Resistance movement began to move towards their own liberation only after such an opportunity to choose freely was presented, and only after believing in the truth of the equality of women and men and rejecting distinctions based on gender.
The Platform of Action for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women promotes the goal of 50-50 representation in all appointive and electoral nominating processes. One of its targets is to have at least 35 percent of managerial positions and a minimum of 15 percent of senior decision-making positions held by women by the year 2000.
As the movement continued to grow in size and quality, the Iranian Resistance surpassed these objectives in 1985. In diametric opposition to the Khomeini regime, women in the Resistance assumed the most sensitive political and military responsibilities. Four years after the beginning of all out Resistance, women took the lead when the Mojahedin elected Maryam Rajavi, the most capable member of the organization, as joint leader of the movement. In 1989, she was elected as the Secretary General of the Mojahedin. In 1993, the Mojahedin elected 24 women to the 24-member Leadership Council, the organization's highest decision-making body.
On the political front, women comprise half the members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCR), the 235- member political coalition of democratic forces, which acts as the parliament in exile and will be the provisional government after the mullahs' ouster. Several of the most important committees of this parliament are chaired by women. These committees will serve as the bases for the ministries of the provisional government, and are currently drafting programs for Iran's reconstruction and administration after the ouster of the mullahs' dictatorship. In August 1995, Mrs. Mahvash Sepehri, 38, was chosen as the senior secretary of the NCR.
On April 17, 1987, the NCR ratified a 13-point plan entitled the Declaration of the National Council of Resistance of Iran on the Freedoms and Rights of Iranian Women, specifying the future provisional government's plan of action. According to this plan, women's equality will be recognized in all social, economic, political, personal, and familial spheres. It will also be recognized in regard to such legal matters as testimony, guardianship, custody, and inheritance. The plan specifies support for Iranian women's organizations and consideration of special facilities for their activities. The articles of the declaration are as follows:
1- The right to elect and be elected in all elections, and the right to suffrage in all referendums.
2- The right to employment and free selection of profession, and the right to hold any public or government position, office or profession, including the presidency or judgeship in all judicial institutions.
3- The right to free political and social activity, social intercourse and travel without permission of another person.
4- The right to choose clothing and covering.
5-The right to use without discrimination, all instructional, educational, athletic and artistic resources; and the right to participate in all athletic competitions and artistic activities.
6- Recognition of women's associations and support for their voluntary formation throughout the country; consideration of special privileges in various social, administrative, cultural and particularly educational fields in order to abolish inequality and the dual oppression of women.
7- Equal pay for equal work; prohibition of discrimination in hiring and during employment; equal access to various privileges such as vacations, retirement benefits, and disability compensation; enjoyment of child and marital benefits and unemployment insurance; the right to salary and special accommodations during pregnancy, childbirth, and care of infants.
8- Absolute freedom in choice of spouse and marriage, which can take place only with the consent of both parties and must be registered with a legal authority; marriage prior to the attainment of legal age is prohibited; in family life, any form of compulsion or coercion of the wife is prohibited.
9- Equal right to divorce; divorce must be processed by a qualified judicial court; women and men are equal in presenting grounds for divorce; child custody and support as well as financial settlements will be determined by the verdict for divorce.
10- Support for widowed and divorced women and for children in their custody; care will be provided through the National Social Welfare System.
11- Elimination of legal inequalities with regard to testimony, guardianship, custody and inheritance.
12- Polygamy is prohibited; under special circumstances, the law would specify the appropriate arrangements.
13- Prohibition of all forms of sexual exploitation of women on any pretext, and abrogation of all customs, laws and provisions authorizing the father, mother, parent, guardian, or another to bestow a girl or a woman, on the pretext of marriage or other, for sexual gratification or exploitation.
The NCR program not only provides maximum safeguards for women, but also eradicates the social basis for this gender distinction.
Throughout the world, the military is traditionally regarded as a man's domain. Women in the military must overcome extreme difficulties, various barriers and many obstacles (including cultural) to prove their abilities. The debate on this issue is ongoing almost everywhere in the world, especially the Muslim world.
Iranian women have made remarkable achievements in this arena. The National Liberation Army, the military arm of the Iranian Resistance, was founded in June 1987 along the Iran- Iraq frontier. It is an all-volunteer, modern, mechanized, tank-equipped army. At first, women's primary role was behind the lines and in logistics, medical units and maintenance. By winter of 1987, women had been deployed in artillery units, and came under the direct fire of the enemy's artillery. Next came all-female units with male commanders. By 1988, women had entered front-line combat. They continued to train in all-female units, acquiring greater military capabilities.
Soon, there were all-female brigades with female commanders. In June 1988, when the NLA launched a major offensive to liberate the city of Mehran, an all-female brigade captured the city itself. In the following offensive, "Eternal Light," the NLA pushed 170 km into the regime's territory and engaged in four days of heavy fighting with 200,000 enemy forces. Women commanded a number of the divisions in the battlefield. By the end of 1988, seven women had been appointed to the 15-member NLA General Command, a solid 47 percent presence at the highest level of the army.
Women's ascension in the Resistance's military has continued unhindered ever since. Presently, women comprise one-third of the rank and file of the National Liberation Army of Iran, and the majority of its commanders. The army's Deputy Commander in Chief, Chief of Staff, and many other members of the General Command are women. Women perform in various capacities, even the most physically challenging tasks like combat engineering and commanding tank units. The NLA has also trained women helicopter pilots. Most observers who have had first-hand experience with the NLA, including scores of reporters from international news organizations, were very impressed by the role of women, and acknowledge it is unprecedented.
NBC News, May 26, 1991: "They are the only army in the region, perhaps in the world to field women in front line combat. In recent battles these women fought hand to hand along side the men. They showed no hesitation in fighting close up."
Daily Telegraph, June 7, 1991: "To anyone used to the slovenly ways of Middle Eastern armies, the National Liberation Army of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran comes as something of a shock."
Reuters, June 2, 1991: "One woman commands the workshops where the army repairs its armor, another is in charge of combat engineering, one of the most strenuous jobs in the military."
It goes without saying that Iranian women's extensive participation in the Resistance is the most essential guarantee for the realization of their strides toward the emancipation of women. The climax of this trend in the anti- fundamentalist Resistance came on August 22, 1993, when the National Council of Resistance elected a woman, Maryam Rajavi, as the President for the future Iran. The election of Mrs. Rajavi, as the symbol of national unity, inspired new hope among Iranians in and out of Iran. While she has evoked a new spirit of resistance among all Iranians, her impact has been tremendous among women, who see in her the end to the prevailing gender-apartheid. As a result, a multitude of women have since joined the Resistance in Iran and abroad.
On June 16, 1995, in a speech entitled "Freedom," Mrs. Rajavi announced her 16-point "Charter of Fundamental Freedoms" for future Iran. Her remarks were broadcast live via satellite to 15,000 Iranians in Germany, the biggest ever gathering of Iranians outside Iran since the overthrow of the shah, and millions of Iranians inside the country.
In this charter, Mrs. Rajavi reiterated the Resistance's emphasis on freedom of speech, opinion, the press, parties and political associations, adding that elections would be the only criterion for the legitimacy of the government. The Charter deals extensively with the rights of women. It stipulates that women "will enjoy social, political and cultural rights absolutely equal to those of men,"2 including:
*The right to elect and be elected in all elections, and the right to suffrage in all referendums.
*The right to employment and freedom of choice in profession, and the right to hold any public or government position, office, or profession, and judgeship in all judicial bodies.
*The right to free political and social activity, social intercourse and travel without the permission of another person.
*The right to freely choose the spouse, to marry, equal rights to divorce. Polygamy is banned.
*The right to freely choose clothing and covering.
*The right to use, without discrimination, all instructional, educational, athletic, and artistic resources, and the right to participate in all athletic competitions and artistic activities.
It appears that after more than a century of struggle for their legitimate rights, the women of Iran are at last on the verge of a historic achievement, denied them for so long by oppressive regimes, social barriers and cultural taboos: Equal rights with men in all spheres of life.