Violence against Female Political Prisoners in Iran

Shadi Sadr, Women's rights activist, Justice for Iran

During the first decade of the Islamic Republic of Iran, thousands of political activists had been arrested, tortured and executed. Justice For Iran initiated a research on gender based violence over the 80s. The research shows how female political activists who were widely arrested in 80s, had suffered the same sever tortures as males while they had been experiencing gender based violence and sexual abuse. Further, it shows how some type of violence, like verbal sexual abuse, kicking the genital areas, and so forth were widespread. An important part of the research regards whether some kind of sexual tortures had been implemented systematically or not. In this part, it specifically focused on the issue of virginal rape before execution, as well as on forced marriages. Exceptional rape and other type of abuse are also a part of the research. In her presentation, Shadi Sadr will firstly go through the results of the research very briefly and then, give her analysis about the meaning and the effect of gender based violence in the prisons not only for and on the victims, but also for and on the society.

Biography:

Shadi Sadr is an Iranian lawyer, human rights defender and journalist who has risked her life in her efforts to protect the human rights of women activists and journalists. She has been arrested, beaten and imprisoned in Iran. In July 2009 she was arrested once again and then released, which allowed her to escape to Europe. On May 17, 2010, Ms. Sadr was convicted in absentia in a Tehran court of “acting against national security and harming public order” and was sentenced to six years in prison with 74 lashes. Shadi Sadr is the founder and director of Raahi, a legal centre for women. Raahi was closed down by the Iranian authorities in 2007 in a wave of repression against civil society. Hivos nominates Sadr for her extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice in her fight for human rights of women in Iran. Ms. Sadr has touched the lives of hundreds of individuals through her work and her support for campaigns such as the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign. She has received several awards such as Ida B Wells award for bravery in journalism, Alexander Prize of Law School of Santa Clara University and Women of Courage Award of the State Department. In July 2010 Shadi Sadr established a new organisation Justice for Iran. The organisation promotes and defends women's rights in the increasingly discriminatory and fundamentalist environment in Iran and addresses the issue of impunity for sexual violence against women by the Iranian regime. Justice for Iran raises public awareness and demands accountability for women's rights violations committed by the Iranian government via political pressure and international accountability mechanisms.

Organiser: Bloomsbury Gender Network hosted by the SOAS Centre for Gender Studies