Sepideh Moradi, one of the Sufi women who is in the
women’s ward of Qarchak Prison, began a dry hunger strike in support of her
inmate Sufi woman, Elham Ahmadi. On November 26, Elham Ahmadi, announced the
start of a dry hunger strike after being deprived of family visits by the
Qarchak Prison Disciplinary Committee.
In support of Ms. Ahmadi, Sepideh Moradi
announced the start of her hunger strike with the following letter:
"Now that it is the third day of the
hunger strike of my dear sister, Ms. Elham Ahmadi, and the prison officials and
their respective authorities have been demonstrating more and more of their
hateful nature, and response to the rightful demands of the Dervishes is
sometimes with brutality and silence, watching their criminal acts, and
sometimes pretending their unawareness, which of course, is a worn-out method
and its bad smell is spread everywhere. Now that I have witnessed the death of
humanity every second, and all the ways have turned into a dead-end because of
the tyranny and arrogance of individuals, I join the hunger strike. And I hope
God will forgive me for all the moments that I have closed my eyes to the truth
because I was preoccupied with my own daily routine."
Ms. Javaher Agha Maleki, 68, Sepideh Moradi’s
grandmother announced a hunger strike in protest to the beating and insulting
of Sufi women in Qarchak Prison.
Three detained Sufi women, Shokoufeh Yadollahi, Elham
Ahmadi and Sepideh Moradi, were attacked and beaten by an order from the head
of Qarchak Prison in Varamin on Monday, November 26. They had asked for the
return of their personal belongings seized by prison authorities on June 13.
However, they were brutalized by prison agents.
Iran is the only country in the world in which thousands
of women have been executed or subjected to torture for being opposed to the
regime. Just over the past year, nearly a thousand women were arrested and
brutalized in prisons for participating in anti-government protests.
******
On Sunday Dec. 2nd, the workers of Haft Tapeh sugar
mill, located in Shush, in Iran’s Khuzestan province, returned to the streets and
resume their protests for the 28th consecutive day. The workers of Haft Tapeh,
demand the payment of months-overdue wages and the removal of the private
owners of the company who have pushed the company toward bankruptcy. Haft Tapeh
is the largest sugarcane factory in Iran and employs thousands of workers. The
current conditions of the factory threaten the livelihoods of these workers and
their families. The workers are also demanding the release of their arrested
colleagues. In recent weeks, instead of responding to the demands of the
workers, the Iranian regime’s security forces cracked down on the workers and
arrested several of the protesters. On Thursday, security forces attacked the
home of one of the members of the workers' syndicate and arrested him.
******
"Raising the legal age of marriage is
contrary to the general policy of the system," said Allahyar Malekshahi,
Chairman of the Iranian regime’s parliamentary Judicial and Legal Committee, in
an interview with the state-run Fars News Agency, on November 26. Malekshahi said:
"A few parliamentarians, whom are mostly female representatives, are
seeking to increase the legal age of marriage." He added, "The
marriage rates in an early age are not significant."
Yahya Kamalipour, Vice Chairman of the
Judicial and Legal Committee, also showed his disregard for increasing the
legal age of marriage and said, "The issue of child marriage is not an
issue of importance in the country, and the number of people covered by this
law is not big enough to require us to reform the law in the country."
Norouzi, a spokesperson for the
parliamentary Judicial and Legal Committee, also said, "Those who call
these marriages ‘child marriage’ are exaggerating and being extreme. The
immediate proposal of this change in civil law will only create uproar."
Dehghani, another member of the Judicial and
Legal Committee, said, "Marriage is one of the most personal issues in the
lives of individuals, and laws should not have any inappropriate interference
in family matters. The marriage age is more of a cultural and religious nature
than a legal nature. It is not logical to consider a single version of a ban on
marriage for everyone." "Currently, the plan is under
consideration in the Committee, and we are opposed to it, because we cannot
oppose the sacred Islamic law” he added. (The state-run Fars News Agency –
November 25 - 26, 2018)
Girl-child marriage, which is one of the
examples of violence against women, has been institutionalized by the Iranian
regime by setting the legal age of marriage at 13. According to the regime's
officials and experts, some 180,000 girls under 18 years of get married in Iran
every year. Only in 2017, the marriages of at least 37,000 Iranian girls
between the ages of 10 and 14 have been registered. It has also been reported
that there are 24,000 widows under 18, of which 15,000 are under the age of 15.
******
Female professional athletes in Iran are not
supported by sponsors or the government, and are not paid according to their
contracts. Mahshid Ashtari, one of the top players on the Iranian Women’s
National Ping Pong, has not been able to change her racket for six months and
must go through the championship games in Finland with a secondhand racket. She
says: "It is difficult for women to attract sponsors, especially if the
athlete takes action on her own." Mahshid Ashtiari added, "The
representative of Butterfly is a sponsor who does not support very well in
Iran. I called its representative in Iran and told them that my situation is different
from the rest. I am the top player in Iran. Now I'm having trouble even for my
racket which is the most important thing, let alone the rest of the issues.
Each racket is close to one million toumans, and for us, who play
professionally, it must be changed at least every two months."
Female professional athletes in
Iran Fatemeh Amel, the goalkeeper of the women's futsal team in Razavi Khorasan
Province said, "We still do not have a sponsor. All of the players are
native and have a lot of pressure on them. No player has ever received any
money."
The women's futsal team in Razavi
Khorasan does not have any specific time and place for training. The
disorganized management leads to the failure of many players who have jobs or
are studying to participate in the training. Therefore, the wage of the player
who is employed is reduced and this is irreparable. If practices are held in
the afternoons at a specific time and place so that all players can take part,
the training can be held in an organized manner. But unfortunately, there is no
system for planning and providing these facilities to female professional
athletes in the country. (The state-run ISNA news agency – November 26, 2018)
