NEWS))))))

Ottawa: Yesterday, Saturday the Iranian-Canadians gathered as they do every week at the Parliament Hill and across from Prime Minister's office to commemorate Nov. 25, the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women". They chanted: "Stop systematic violence against women in Iran", "Down with misogynist regime in Iran", "Women rights is Human rights"...etc. They also called for the freedom of all political prisoners and the abolition of torture and executions by the Iranian regime.



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The University of Kashan in Iran issued a directive on November 9, announcing restrictions for the young women who wish to play music in the school’s monthly events. The paragraph pointing out these restrictions for girls is as follows: Female students who wish to play music along with men could do so if they are married, if they observe a suitable Hijab (i.e. they should not wear tight clothes, short clothes and short sleeves, should use headbands, the color of their clothes must be suitable and not loud) and if they do not do any extra movements other than what is needed to play their instrument. As for the stage, they must sit in the margins, or behind other members of the groups.


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Rate of domestic violence in Iran had a 3.2% rise in the Iranian year of 1395 (March 2016 – March 2017) compared to the previous year.
According to state-run Fars news agency Nov. 23, Ali Hadizadegan, head of the Coroner’s Office of Mashhad, told an expert meeting, “A Coroner’s Office survey done in 28 Iranian provinces shows that around 66 per cent of the families refer to the office due to family disputes have experienced domestic violence at least once.”
The study also indicates that 52% of the violence has been verbal or psychological, 37.8% physical and 10.2% sexual. Also, 22% of women who referred to the forensics had been abused by their husbands,” Hadizadegan added.
He also pointed out, “Violence is more common among young couples. Most abused women were between 20 and 35 years of age. A woman’s occupation and income has been effective in decreasing violence. Violence happens more frequently in under educated families. Families with low income also experience more violence.”
Hadizadegan acknowledged that the figures provided by the government do not reflect the reality because women generally do not complain about the violence they experience. It is important to note that women in Iran are not supported by the governement even if they report the violence.

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“For over 38 years, there has been profound negligence in the area of social health.” The confession was made in a Social Health Gathering in Hamedan- Iran, by Hassan Mousavi Chalak, the director of the Office in charge of Managing the Conduct of the Social Welfare Organization. 
The state-run ISNA news agency Nov. 21, qoating Mousavi Chalak as saying “According to the statistics provided by the Judiciary, we have 15.2 million legal cases in a country with a population of 80 million. While India with a population of 1 billion only has 1.2 million legal cases,” he added.
He also admitted that every hour, 49 Iranians are sent to prison. Chalak expressed concern about the alarming rate of crime among youths under 18, especially among girls. The Iranian official announced that the highest number of legal files in Iran are related to drug charges and the second highest are related to domestic violence.

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A significant number of residents of the New Terminal District of the southern Iranian city of Kerman staged a protest outside the Governor’s Office on Thursday, November 23, complaining that they had been informed 20 years after the construction of their houses that the municipality would not give them services because they are living off limits. 
“We built these houses 20 years ago with lots of problems and by getting loans. Many nights, we slept hungry and thirsty until we managed to build these houses. Recently, our district’s electrical power has become very weak. Frequent power outages are damaging our electric appliances,” said a woman taking part in the protest.

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Protests by people cheated by the IRGC-backed credit institutes continues in different cities in Iran. In Mashhad, northeastern Iran, people looted by Afzal-e Tous Financial Institute gathered outside the Ayandeh Bank on November 21, angry men and women plundered by the Alborz-e Iranian credit institude gathered in front of the central building of Tejarat(Commerce) bank in Tehran and in Ahwaz, southwestern Iran, people plundered by Arman-e Vahdat gathered in front of the city’s seminary school on Wednesday, November 22. Also on Nov. 20th a similar protest was statege in front of the Prosecuters' office in Tehran. The gathering had been called for on the social media by people plundered by Caspian, Arman-e Vahdat, Afzal-e Tous and Alborz-e Iranian credit institutes.

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According to staste-run Rokna news agency Nov. 23rd, Khorassan Razavi Police Chief announced that 8 women working with a modeling network had been arrested in Mashhad, the capital of this northeastern Iranian province. “The accused were turned in to the judiciary to go through the legal process,” Ghader Karimi added.




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Iran's women’s national footsall team, champion of Asia, hosted Italy’s team in Tehran on November 23 and 24, while no photographers or cameramen were allowed in the stadium. The only picture was taken at the end of the games in an empty stadium while Italian players had to cover their hair with pink shawls.
Some 600 women attended to watch the game on the first day and 800 on the second day. But no reporters were let in and no images were broadcasted of the games where Iranian women won 3-1 and 2-1.
Some spectators said women must actively participate in women’s games to pave the way to gain a general admission to enter all sports stadiums. Currently Iranian women are not allowed to watch sports in mixed staduims. (The state-run ISNA news agency – November 24, 2017)

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Some 600 Tehran’s Kharazmi University students, including large numbers of women, staged a protest on November 21, on the university’s campus in Karaj, demanding officials to deliver on their promise to build a metro station for the campus in Karaj, west of Iranian capital,Tehran.
The protest started at 9.30 a.m. in front of the university’s central building with chants denouncing continued theft and embezzlements. The students marched towards the entrance with chants of “unite, unite”, calling on other students to join them.
The Kharazmi University entrusted its lands to the municipality and the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development in return for building a metro station for the university’s campus. None of the two government organs, however, fulfilled their promises. Furthermore, it has been announced that the construction and passage of a metro rail will close the university’s entrance from the expressway and cause further problems for the students’ transportation.

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The recent massive earthquake in western Iran widowed many women and destroyed the life assets of many more. 
The state-run media Salamat reported on Nov. 19  that some 100 women have lost their husbands in the earthquake and have became single mothers to head their households. The figure is of course conservative estimate based on the death toll of 520 as declared by the official media in Iran. The actual figures, however, are much higher. A Majlis deputy told the parliament that at least 1,000 people had died in the earthquake, while local residents say thousands have been killed.

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“Westerners seek to distance women from their duty of reproducing humans.”
Minoo Aslani, head of the Bassij (Mobilization) of Women’s Society, a group affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told a press meeting.
Noting that having a job is not a woman’s duty, she pointed out, “Western policy makers and the media affiliated with them intend to create an atmosphere where they could claim occupation as a woman’s duty instead of her right.”
Minoo Aslani is known to be one of the most misogynous representatives of the Iranian regime. In another interview she endorsed child girls’ marriage under 13 years of age which is the legal age for marriage under the regime's laws, and added, “The Convention on the Rights of the Child believes an individual is a child until 18 years of age and this is an absolutely inhuman outlook. If we accept this definition of a child, it is an affront to human beings.”
(The state-run Shafaf.ir website – January 4, 2017)