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| Suheyla Azizi |
Political activist Suheyla Azizi, in an interview with Voice of America, discussed the recently implemented "Hijab and Chastity" project in Iran, which strengthens the control over women's clothing. She states that for 44 years in Iran, women have been viewed as the guilty party.
Suheyla Azizi also evaluated the growing activism of women in recent times, particularly related to campaigns about the situation in Lake Urmia in Iranian Azerbaijan.
Suheyla Azizi emphasized that in the Islamic Republic era, the violation of individual freedoms began with the restrictions placed on women.
"After the Islamic Republic came into power, they said that women had to wear the headscarf and veil. The legalization of this was the first oppression against women. Some women went out into the streets and held protests. However, unfortunately, the left-wing parties, those who were considered the elites of society, said these women were aligned with imperialism and the Shah's palace. They didn't support them. In fact, the violation of individual freedoms in Iran began the moment the government imposed a cap on half of society's heads," she said.
Suheyla Azizi also pointed out that the Islamic Republic later strengthened Sharia laws.
"For example, a woman has half the inheritance rights compared to a man. Her compensation (diyya) is half that of a man's. If she travels abroad, she must get her husband's permission. Wherever she goes, she needs the permission of her husband or her father. In fact, they have turned women into the property of men... For 90 years, women have not been able to make decisions about their own bodies. This has caused so many contradictions and paradoxes, where a large part of women today focus on the external aspects, instead of thinking about equal rights. This is a huge setback," she said.
Suheyla Azizi stated that in the Islamic Republic, women have been treated as the guilty party.
"For 44 years, they have viewed women in society as guilty. It's as if women are at fault for simply being born, and when they go outside, they must be very careful to prevent men from falling into sin. This is the ideology of this system," the political activist noted.
Suheyla Azizi also referred to a recent protest organized by women in Tabriz about the situation at Lake Urmia, pointing out that women are expressing their positions not only on the hijab issue but also on environmental and other societal problems.
"These women show that we are not just concerned with the hijab issue, we are fully engaged in society, everything affects us. This includes environmental issues, which are of utmost importance because our lives depend on it. That's why our women courageously went out into the streets and voiced their protests," she said.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Süheyla Əzizi: Qadınların Urmiyə gölü üçün fəallığı onların toplumun bütün məsələlərinə diqqət yetirdiyini göstərir