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| Efsane Sevgin |
Efsane Sevigin emphasizes that the struggle for gender equality in Iran has progressed both in terms of quantity and quality. In an interview with Voice of America, the activist living in Sweden evaluated the views of the forces and parties affiliated with the Azerbaijani National Movement regarding women's struggles.
According to her, "Recent events and protests in Iran have been referred to as a women’s revolution in world newspapers. It truly is a women’s revolution. Iranian women have faced so much oppression, their clothes, food, behavior, and everything about them has been controlled to the point that they have now had enough. In this phase, they are showing more unity and equality. They are organizing."
However, Efsane Sevigin points out that the situation is different within the Azerbaijani National Movement and that there has been no progress regarding the participation of women in the movement; in fact, the movement has even regressed in this regard:
"I do not see any progress within the South Azerbaijani National Movement. There is even regression. Our national movement has not been able to incorporate the women’s movement. But it's not too late. The national movement will only be unified when it can encompass all rights within itself – women’s rights, children's rights, and all rights and freedoms."
She states, "This movement is a patriarchal one. It has not been able to include women. It has not been able to provide opportunities for them. We have many capable and enlightened women. They truly came to this movement enthusiastically, but for various reasons, they withdrew. Later, they directed their efforts towards the women’s movement in regions with a majority of Persians and went there."
Sevigin emphasizes that this deficiency in the national movement has not been treated as a serious problem, and no efforts have been made to address it.
"They do not treat this as a serious problem and work on it. Many even attack those who talk about the women’s movement, saying, 'You are dividing the national movement!' because they do not understand the national movement… Within the existing parties, there is no place for women. When there is, they are brought in as decoration, as a member of the family. Women are second in line. They remain in the shadow of men. They do not have a voice," the Turkish activist says.
Efsane Sevigin adds, "We have women who are influential in all areas. But you look and see that they are only invited for occasions like Women’s Day to ask, ‘What do you think about Women’s Day?’ They are not asked anything about other issues. They are not given a voice."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Əfsanə Sevigin: Milli hərəkata həvəslə gələn qadınlar oldu, amma geri çəkildilər