Rahnavard condemns unprecedented "political violence against women" in Iran

Zahra Rahnavard

On the occasion of the International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women, Zahra Rahanvard issued a letter addressed to Iran’s head of judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, criticizing the situation women in the country.

Kaleme website reports that in her letter, Zahra Rahnavard urges Ayatollah Larijani to "take action toward saving the people especially women from the current political violence before it is too late."

Referring to scores of women political prisoners and also women whose husbands or children have been imprisoned for political charges, the opposition leader states: “In the course of our history, we have never witnessed this level of political violence by the state towards the people and in particular against women.”

Rahnavard writes: “We, women, have always suffered from violent discrimination in the cultural, legal and value systems of the society and the family.”

The opposition leader maintains that she has many times condemned the 30 years of prejudice, restrictions and gender violence suffered by women and adds that “recent political and military violence are a new page added onto to this voluminous book of violence against women.”

The opposition leader’s reference is to the many women who were arrested, injured and even killed in the violent state crackdown on peaceful protests following the tenth presidential election in 2009.

Rahnavard writes that torture and mind altering drugs have been used in Iran’s prisons to extract confessions from women causing permanent physical injuries.

She notes the arrest of several women lawyers who have been arrested whilst they should have been availed of professional immunity to carry out their legal duties.

Rahnavard concludes that if the country was led according to the forgotten values of the Revolution such “deviations and oppression would not have taken place.”

Zahra Rahnavard who has supported her husband, MirHosein Mousavi, in the presidential election of 2009 has repeatedly issued announcements in condemnation of state violence against post-election political prisoners and in defence of women's rights.