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Feminists Should Focus on Basic Rights for All
[Excerpt]
By Kathryn Lopez - Newspaper Enterprise
Association
March 6, 2006
Wednesday marks what the United Nations designates "International Women's Day." I'll be thinking about an 18-year-old Iranian girl named Nazanin that day. Instead of letting activists waste the day denouncing George W. Bush and other protectors of human rights and freedom, the United Nations ought to use its bullhorn to insist that Nazanin become a household name.
Nazanin and her 16-year-old niece were about to be raped last year when the older girl stabbed two of their three attackers, killing one.
Nazanin reportedly told a criminal court that "I wanted to defend myself and my niece. I did not want to kill that boy. At the heat of the moment I did not know what to do because no one came to our help." But she was sentenced to death earlier this year for her crime. Her (insane) sentence is subject to higher court review.
International Women's Day this year should be Save Nazanin Day. It's not only this one young woman's life who might be saved, but also countless unknowns in similar situations. (read more)
In Iran, violence against women has been legalised and institutionalised by the state. A recent study conducted by the National Welfare Organisation found that two-thirds of Iranian women are victims of domestic violence. Iran remains one of the only countries in the world where women are stoned to death. Last year, the UN Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women, Professor Ertürk, chastised Iran over what she said were abuses and discrimination built into the Islamic republic's laws. She wrote in her report:
"Iran's laws do not provide protection for victims of domestic violence and make it difficult to escape violence through divorce." (read more)
On the web:
Death sentence for a teenage girl in Iran condemned
An 18-year-old girl to be hanged in Iran
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