Iran: Women on the front lines of protests
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, Iran is ranked 150th out of 156 countries with an index of 0.582. This ranking is down two steps from 2020 and eight steps down from 2019. Iran is among “the countries with the greatest economic gender gaps”.Iran is also among the countries with the lowest participation of women in parliament, which is equal to 5.6%.
Women on the front lines of protests
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, since the start of the Iranian New Year (March 20, 2021), there have been successive outbursts of uprisings and protests in the Iranian streets. Women, some of them members of MEK Iran, have once again demonstrated their leading role in the vanguard of the protests.
Among the most remarkable events arethe successive national gatherings bySocial Security pensioners and retirees.According to tweets from the MEK Iran, retired women took part in at least 130 protests in April. Women also participated in protests by teachers, nurses, farmers, etc. The participation of Iranian women was recorded in at least 151 protests.
Protests by social security retirees
Iranian retirees and pensioners, among them members of MEK Iran, have been protestingto obtain their fundamental rights.A great part of the protesters were women.
Their demonstrations took place in 17 cities across the country, including Tehran and major capitals, notably in Mashhad, Kermanshah, Karaj, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Arak, Khorramabad, Ardabil, Qazvin, Bojnourd, Sari, etc.
Protests by farmers in Isfahan
In the village of Vajareh, in Isfahan province, farmers held a protest to demand their water share from the Zayandehrood river.This river passes through Isfahan. A large number of female farmers participated in these protests.
Protests by teachers
Over the past month, women have been the voice of Iran’s teachers who have been deprived from their rights, leading their protests. These protests have been supported by MEK Iran.
During a protest rally in Karaj of graduated teachers on April 19, 2021, a woman from Hashtgerd town spoke out calling on protesters to stand up and take back their rights.
At the same day, there was another rallyin Ardebil. Teachers from the literacy movement gathered in front of the rectorate of that town in northwest Iran. The protesters have ten years of professional experience and passed the job exam. However, the Ministry of Education has not yet employed them.
On April 27, 2021, teachers held a rally in front of the mullahs’ parliament. They protested against the Ministry of Education and demanded to be hiredon a permanent and official basis.
Protests by defrauded investors
Defrauded investors held protest rallies in Tehran, Isfahan, Machad and Tabriz.
In Tehran, women, among them members of MEK Iran, took the lead of defrauded investors who gathered in front of the Tehran Stock Exchange and marched through the streets on April 21, 2021. They chanted: “Down with Rohani” and “Rohani must be executed,” “ We will fight and we will die but we will take back Iran, ”and“ We will not live under oppression; we will give our life to live free ”.
