Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui

۸ March ۲۰۱۰ Today is International Women`s Day: a day to celebrate the achievements in the promotion of women`s rights globally and to commit to advance them further. This is a day when at Amnesty International we seek to reinforce our work with local and international partners to end violence against women, both in situations of conflict and in the home and protect migrant women from exploitation and other abuses.

In recent years we have also been campaigning in a number of countries to reduce maternal mortality and the discrimination and poverty, which lies at the heart of so many abuses against women.

Fighting for women`s rights in these areas requires, first and foremost, that women themselves have the freedom to debate, advocate and organise without fearing arrest, torture or even death. Yet today many courageous women in all continents struggle just to do so.

The struggle for women`s rights thrives around the world and in the UAE you need only look across the waters to find brave women standing up for women`s rights in spite of increasingly difficult challenges created by political repression.

 The current government has introduced new rules, which worsen women`s unequal treatment under the law.

In September last year regulations came into force in Iranian universities which prevent unmarried female students from studying outside their home towns or cities, restricting their free access to higher education. The majority of Iranian university students are women, and there are no such requirements for male students. A controversial Family Protection Bill which activists believe will actually worsen a woman`s place in the family also looks set to be passed into law.

Women in Iran already face widespread discrimination under the law. They cannot be presiding judges or stand for the Presidency. They don`t have equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. Evidence given by women in court is worth half that given by a man, and men get twice as much compensation for injury or death. While the legal age for marriage for girls is ۱۳, compared to ۱۵ for boys, fathers can apply for permission to arrange for their daughters to get married at a younger age — and to men much older than their daughters. Men have an incontestable right in law to divorce their spouse. Women do not.

Despite being treated as second class citizens by the authorities, Iranian women are claiming their right to be on an equal footing with men. They forced the issue of women`s rights onto the agenda of the presidential election. Women dissatisfied with the results of the election were prominent in the mass demonstrations by millions of Iranians who poured onto the streets..

In spite of the myriad obstacles and injustices faced daily, Iranian women are showing the world that they want to control their destinies for themselves. Amnesty International joined a recent call made by women`s rights activists in Iran for freedom and gender equality to provide a voice for them when their own is silenced through repression or arrest. Too many women around the world will spend this year`s International Women`s Day in prison for peacefully expressing their views, or will be subjected to domestic violence, or will be tortured.

. We should support the women of Iran along with activists for women`s rights all over the world on International Women`s Day — and every other day.

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui is Amnesty International`s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

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