FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RE: Coalition of Iranian Human Rights Activists Initiates Mobile Billboard Campaign in Washington D.C. in Support of Iranian Women’s Rights Movement November 18, 2014, Washington, D.C. – Since the inception of the Islamic Republic (February 11, 1979), the Government of Iran and its instrumentalities have worked systematically to institutionalize oppression of, and discrimination against, Iranian women. As a result, throughout the past three and a half decades, Iranian women have been subjected to countless acts of violence and injustice. Women’s rights issues in Iran have garnered unique focus in the last few months due to certain recent events, including the execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, a 26-year old woman sentenced to death for killing a man who attempted to rape her. Also in recent weeks, several Iranian women were brutalized in a series of public acid attacks carried out as part of an intimidation campaign intended to achieve strict compliance with the Islamic Republic’s laws regarding female dress and appearance. While the affiliations of the perpetrators of these acid attacks are not clear, such events are another reminder of the tragic reality of life for women in Iran: that the Government of Iran has established, and continues to promote, a social and legal environment within which women are the targets of immeasurable oppression and discrimination based on their gender. To make matters worse, where such oppression and discrimination are not matters of formal policy but occur outside the bounds of Iranian law, the Islamic Republic routinely fails to provide, or actively denies, Iranian women the protection that is their most basic human right, leaving Iranian women all the more vulnerable to both official and unofficial acts mistreatment and abuse. On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, in recognition of the dire state of human rights in Iran, and with particular attention to the constant theme of injustice against women in Iran, a coalition of Iranian human rights activists from a variety of organizations (the “Coalition”) and Justice Through Music (JTM) will carry out a mobile billboard campaign in Washington, D.C. Trucks depicting billboards with images and messages designed to raise awareness of, and draw support for, the women’s rights movement in Iran, as well as broader concerns regarding human rights in Iran, will travel through the capital city’s streets. The Coalition acknowledges and supports the demands of the Iranian people that their human rights be both respected and safeguarded by their government. The Coalition hopes that the American public will stand in solidarity with the Iranian people in their continued struggle for human rights and will urge American leaders and policymakers to continue to focus on human rights issues in Iran, irrespective of the outcome of negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program. For more information, please call 1-800-555-5543
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 22:22:48 +0000
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