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| Simin Sabri |
"The legislation of the Islamic Republic of Iran creates a foundation for attacks on women. By creating an atmosphere of fear, the government seeks to isolate women from society and force them to stay at home," said Southern psychiatrist Simin Sabri in an interview with Voice of America, expressing her reaction to the chemical acid (referred to as "asid" in Iranian Azerbaijan) attacks on women in Iran. In recent weeks, several women in Isfahan, Iran, were attacked by unidentified men, and the chemical acid burned their faces.
Women's rights advocates note that the attacks are being carried out systematically and complain that the government and its affiliated groups have created the conditions for these attacks, while the authorities have not taken serious steps to prevent such incidents.
In Sabri’s view, the recent bills introduced in the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran have emboldened the men who carry out these horrific attacks on women.
The Southern activist specifically refers to the "Amr bil-Ma’ruf wa Nahi anil-Munkar" (Commanding what is good and forbidding what is wrong) bill, which was discussed in parliament shortly before these attacks occurred.
This principle, which holds special importance in Shia Sharia, obligates Muslims to call others to do good and to prevent them from doing wrong. Iranian clerics and government officials have used this principle to urge the population, particularly women who do not conform to the prescribed dress code, to wear the standard hijab.
Simin Sabri considers the men who attack women as ideologically sick. "People ask me whether such individuals are mentally ill. These are not mentally ill people; they are sick with the ideology they believe in. These radical individuals believe that by attacking people and committing crimes, they will create a better world," said the Southern psychiatrist.
According to her, the Iranian government and its legislation create the conditions for the activities of these radical groups, targeting women and pushing them away from society and the workplace. They want to force women to stay at home.
The Southern activist also sees the executions and flogging sentences carried out in front of the public as a manifestation of this policy. She considers the Iranian Islamic Republic's main strategy to be governing through the creation of an atmosphere of fear.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
"İranda qanunlar qadınlara qarşı zorakılığa zəmin yaradır"