WMC Women Under Siege

A New Movement Among Sexual Assault Survivors in Iran Challenges a Cycle of Violence

Long before the #MeToo movement caught fire in Western countries, women in the Islamic Republic of Iran were struggling to find recourse for a system that consistently left them vulnerable to abuse without hope for justice.

Simultaneously faced with social stigma and second-class status before the law, girls and women who have suffered sexual humiliation, harassment, and assault have opted to keep their trauma to themselves and forgo the ineffective legal path.

An activist holds a photograph of Reyhaneh Jabbari during a candle vigil in her memory on October 31, 2014. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images)

But recently, a new movement has sparked public discourse among Iranian women as they take to social media with their own #MeTooIran moments, publicly sharing the most horrific, traumatizing, and brutal moments of their lives — even naming their assailants and revealing serial perpetrators.

Using hashtags such as #تجاوز and #آزار_جنسی, (loosely, #rape and #sexualharassment) Iranian women emerged with accounts of their experiences, only to realize that not only they were not alone but that they had faced the same perpetrators. Some perpetrators have since been arrested and tried, including Keyvan Emamverdi, a bookstore owner in Tehran who later confessed to violating 300 women and girls over ten years.

Conservative skeptics have lashed out with the typical response, either accusing the women of lying or blaming them for a range of behaviors — from immodest clothing to too much presence in the public space. Victim blaming is common in post-revolution Iran, evolving from the perspective of men to credence among women. Instead of placing the blame on their attackers, many women have wondered how they could have prevented it.

It is hard to narrow the single reason why this movement has been unleashed in Iran. Rather, it is likely an outcome of years of frustration and suppression, combined with the power of a global solidarity movement for women.

Recently, a video of a woman drenched in blood being beaten and touched on her breast went viral. The woman, known as the "Abadani Girl," was reportedly beaten after she confronted the family members of a man who was allegedly assaulting her at work. In solidarity, the name of the alleged perpetrator went viral along with expressions of support for Abadani Girl.

Women are forced to cloak their femininity and beauty under the hijab to prevent men from losing control of their desires and urge for carnal violence. All the while, these rules have not spared women or girls from the plague of assault. This narrow view of protecting women's honor and “purity” makes it easier for perpetrators to escape blame in the view of society, as the assault or harassment was not their fault but the result of the woman “not following the rules.” These rules vilify the woman and further cultural stigma that “this kind of thing doesn't happen to good girls.”

Those who muster up the courage to seek justice in the legal system have had to endure additional horror and humiliation. Many have had to endure intrusive “virginity tests” as part of routine rape investigations. In such inquiries, the burden of proof has been on women and they have had to produce the testimony of witnesses of “four just men.” Others have been questioned about their moral choice of being alone with a male friend or coworker.

Many perpetrators with strong connections to the government have been spared from any legal consequences. In rare cases, involving perpetrators with lesser socioeconomic status, the Iranian courts have delivered “justice” by executing the perpetrator — at times, publicly— further perpetuating a cycle of vengeance and violence.

However, the Iranian system of “justice” doesn't limit itself to the court of law. Many men have taken it upon themselves to punish immodest women by throwing acid on their faces and maiming them permanently for the transgression of appearing desirable in public. Acid attacks were rampant in Isfahan for weeks as government officials proved ineffective in apprehending and prosecuting the perpetrators.

To call this a “broken” justice system doesn’t fully explain the true nature of the problem. This legal system is intentional about its treatment of women, and even religious minorities, as lesser beings. It is intentionally engineered to solicit behavioral change among men and women, just as described by anthropologists who see the relationship between law and society as a tautology that perpetuates one another: law creates culture, and culture creates laws.

Those women who do decide to seek justice often risk severe consequences. Reyhaneh Jabbari lost her life while seeking justice. Jabbari was an interior designer who came into contact with a high-profile government official, who lured her into his apartment on the pretense of a design consultation. Jabbari reportedly defended herself against an alleged attack and killed her assailant with a knife.

Her claims of self-defense held no value. She was consequently arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. The family of her alleged assailant reportedly offered forgiveness if Jabbari recanted her allegations, but she refused. Jabbari was eventually executed by hanging on October 25, 2014.

Feminists hail Jabbari's story as one of heroism and strength. When she felt threatened, she defended herself against a possible assault, and she named and blamed her alleged assailant. When her act of self-defense didn’t bring her justice, Jabbari refused to sacrifice her dignity and stood by her allegations, even though it cost her life. She did all of that in Iran, long before the #MeToo movement even came into existence.

The very notion of sharing these harrowing stories on social media shows the potential to transform both the audience and the storyteller. As stories are shared and read, one can finally hope for a more empathetic society that will not only stand by women who have been violated but also for the human rights of a country that are perpetually violated.



More articles by Category: Gender-based violence, International, Misogyny, Violence against women
More articles by Tag: metoo, Iran, Middle East and North Africa, Sexualized violence, Sexual assault
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