Nobel laureate urges Iranians to protest ‘war against women

AFP | Paris     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi urged Iranians to protest a “full-scale war against women” after authorities intensified a crackdown obliging women to obey the country’s Islamic dress code.

Mohammadi, who is held in Tehran’s Evin prison, urged Iranian women to share their stories of arrest and sexual assault at the hands of the authorities via her Instagram page. With international tensions surging in the Middle East, Iranian authorities this month announced a nationwide operation to enforce the wearing of the Islamic headscarf by women, which has been obligatory since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Activists have reported that women have been arrested and taken away to police stations by the so-called morality police with the Persian hashtag “war against women” trending on social media.

“People of Iran, I ask you, artists, intellectuals, workers, teachers, and students... inside and outside the country to protest against this war against women,” Mohammadi said in a message posted late Sunday by her supporters. “Do not underestimate the power of sharing your experiences. Doing so will expose the misogynistic government and bring it to its knees,” she added.