Hope in the midst of harsh realities for women in Iran
New Age Islam News Bureau
28 March 2025
· Hope in the midst of harsh realities for women in Iran
· Iran inquiry denies blame for death of young woman which sparked protests
· LETTER: Condemnation Not Enough After Hijab-Wearing Woman Attacked
· Australia allocates $5 million to support women in Afghanistan
· Why Syrian women are the cornerstone of radical change and rebuilding efforts in post-Assad Syria
· Muslim Women’s Day 2025 Is Cancelled — Here’s Why.
· Maryland teacher disciplined after allegedly harassing Muslim student over her hijab
· Queen Rania of Jordan hosts iftar banquet for women in armed forces
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/harsh-hope-realities-women-iran/d/135002
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Hope in the midst of harsh realities for women in Iran
By Katie O'Malley
March 28, 2025
Iran (MNN) — The lives of women and girls continue to be systemically devalued in Iran today.
A new report is out from a UN fact-finding mission. It adds more evidence to the documentations of human rights violations surrounding Iran’s 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” protests, some of which carry through even to today.
Among the concerns it highlights are gender-based violence, executions and imprisonments of women, men and even children in Iran. Some of the evidence, the Mission affirms, amounts to crimes against humanity.
Also noted in the report is the Iranian regime’s increasing surveillance and criminal prosecution of women who defy the mandatory hijab laws. (More on that here — an ominous warning text to the woman’s personal cell phone is the least worrisome thing in this scenario.)
The sobering reality
“[Women in Iran are] more treated as possessions, tools to get what men want from them. For that reason, women go through a vicious cycle of despair from the beginning,” says Lily Meschi from Iran Alive Ministries.
Education and marriage offer no escape.
“Education is very important for women in general in Iran, in the Middle East. That’s why Iranian women are among the most educated in the Middle East. So they pursue education to find their identity. Then after they land a job or they start their career and whatnot, they’re mistreated by men,” Meschi says. “Most superiors are men, and most do not shy away from making advances and doing things like that to women.”
For middle- or lower-income families, education may be less attainable. For these girls, “they’re usually given into marriage [to] the first person that shows interests in the women. They usually get into toxic situations because of that,” Meschi says.
These toxic realities include abuse, divorce, and temporary marriages. Child marriages and “honor killings” are also present in modern-day Iran.
“It’s a vicious cycle. Women generally depend on men for provision, and so they’re emotionally abused, verbally abused and they’re physically abused,” Meschi says.
The only way out
The political and cultural climate of Iran appears hopeless for women, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly where Meschi says the gospel is a counter-cultural light.
“When they find Christ, when the gospel is shared with them, they find true freedom. They find true identity, and they cling to that,” Meschi says.
“That’s why women that are Muslim-background believers are so on fire for the Lord. They’re so bold. They are at the frontlines of the protests that are happening in Iran, and they want change for others as well. They want the identity that they have found in Christ, as daughters of the Most High God, for others to experience the same thing.
“They’re saying that, you know, to live in Iran under such oppression is to die every single day. Why not die for the sake of the gospel? To a new believer and to a woman that came to Christ in Iran, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Please pray for women in Iran. Pray for the good news of God’s LOVE for them to penetrate their worlds. Pray for political and cultural reversals to open Iran up to the gospel!
You can join Iran Alive Ministries to share gospel hope. Their team ministers to underground and online churches in Iran. They also broadcast gospel hope into Iran via satellite TV.
“We basically let people know, and especially women, that you’re not enslaved to God. You are a child. You are a daughter [or son] of the Most High God. You are crowned with a crown of life,” Meschi says.
Source:mnnonline.org
https://www.mnnonline.org/news/hope-in-the-midst-of-harsh-realities-for-women-in-iran/
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Iran inquiry denies blame for death of young woman which sparked protests
March 28, 2025
A woman stands on top of a car as protesters make their way toward the cemetery where Mahsa Amini is buried.
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An official Iranian investigation rejected state culpability for the 2022 death of a young woman in morality police custody which sparked a nationwide protest movement, instead assigning blame to foreign actors and Persian-language media abroad.
“The death of Mahsa Amini was not caused by physical assault, beating, or head trauma,” the Special Committee for Investigating the 2022 protests wrote in its latest report, adding that its findings “reaffirm the conclusion of the Legal Medicine Organization and that law enforcement officers, emergency responders, and hospital personnel acted without negligence.”
Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian woman whose killing at the hands of Iran's morality police in 2022 sparked nationwide ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests.
The report, released on Wednesday, repeats the state’s long-held narrative that Amini died from an existing medical condition. According to the committee, she suffered from a hypothalamic-pituitary axis disorder from childhood and died of “multiple organ failure (MOF) resulting from cerebral hypoxia.”
The panel maintained that medical records and scans were reviewed, though none were made public or shared with Amini’s family or international investigators.
Independent experts and leaked CT images cited by Iran International contradict the official account. The scans, obtained by a hacker group, showed skull fractures and signs of cerebral trauma, which doctors said were consistent with a heavy blow to the head.
Foreign blame and media accusations
The committee categorized the 2022 unrest as a coordinated campaign to destabilize the Islamic Republic. It said that “hostile and subversive domestic elements, as well as a significant number of foreign agents… exploited the protest environment out of opposition to the Islamic Republic and with the intent to incite riots and overthrow the State.”
It cited an array of foreign actors—including the United States, Israel, and European governments—as allegedly instrumental in fueling the unrest, accusing them of organizing “riot cells, arming demonstrators, and disseminating propaganda” through platforms like Iran International, BBC Persian, and the VOA.
The Islamic Republic has openly threatened Iran International’s reporters for covering developments in Iran and amplifying the voices of the people and has plotted to assassinate several of the network’s staff.
It also said platforms like Instagram were used to spread instructions on making Molotov cocktails and encourage attacks on security forces.
With the start of the 2022 protests, the Islamic Republic once again resorted to its familiar tactics of suppressing nationwide demonstrations by cutting off internet access across the country and heavily censoring the flow of information.
Numerous reports showed that during the anti-government protests in various cities across Iran, internet connectivity was disrupted and text messaging services were shut down.
Disputed death toll
The committee reported 281 fatalities in the unrest: 90 individuals it classified as “rioters,” 54 security officers, and 112 civilians it said were killed under ambiguous circumstances. It acknowledged 6,308 injuries, 90% of them among security personnel, and estimated financial damages exceeding 20 trillion rials (about $20 million).
It denied any pattern of abuse in detention, saying, “No complaints have been reported to the Committee” regarding mistreatment, and maintained that “each of the ten individuals” executed in connection with the protests was convicted of premeditated murder.
The findings contradict documentation from Iran Human Rights, which recorded at least 551 protester deaths—including 68 children—and dozens of suspicious deaths in custody.
While defending the conduct of law enforcement, the report conceded that “in rare cases some officers acted beyond their legal duties” and said 621 judicial cases had been filed against personnel, mostly resulting in convictions, acquittals, or dismissals.
The Islamic Republic’s special committee rejected widespread reports of sexual assault and rape against protesters, saying that out of the 45 individuals said to have been victims, only the identities of five had been provided — and that these five had not filed any complaints regarding such abuse at the time of their detention.
Harrowing testimonies from Iranian dissidents across multiple provinces suggest a systematic and widespread weaponization of sexual violence by security forces to stifle protests in 2022, according to a year-long investigation by Iran International.
A section of the report said that if security forces had used live ammunition as per the allegations from rights groups, the protests would have been suppressed more easily, fewer officers would have been injured, and there would have been less damage to public property.
International scrutiny and domestic defiance
Despite broad international condemnation of its handling of the protests and the UN Human Rights Council’s mandate for an independent fact-finding mission, Iran continues to reject the work of the team.
“The Special Committee—despite not recognizing the legitimacy of the International Fact-Finding Mission—held two virtual meetings with them,” the report said, adding that documentation had been provided via unofficial channels.
The committee did not clarify whether it will publish the evidence cited in its findings or allow independent verification.
The report concluded by recommending structural reforms, expanded propaganda efforts abroad, and increased legal action against perceived foreign interference.
Source:iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202503277388
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LETTER: Condemnation not enough after hijab-wearing woman attacked
MARCH 27, 2025
Stock photoGül Işık/Pexels
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The recent attack on a Muslim woman in Ajax, where she was beaten and nearly set on fire, is terrifying. As a Muslim woman, I can’t stop thinking — what if it had been me? What if it had been my mother, my sister, my friend?
This was not random violence. This was a hate crime meant to send a message: that Muslim women, especially those who wear hijabs, are not safe. And the reality is many of us already feel that fear. We’ve been harassed, yelled at, followed. But this? This is something else.
I keep wondering — what will it take for real change? Condemnation is not enough. Justice must be served, and our leaders must do more than offer words. We need stronger protections for Muslim communities, better education on Islamophobia, and a real commitment to fighting hate crimes.
Most of all, we need people to care. Not just Muslims — all Canadians. Because an attack like this is an attack on the values we claim to stand for. If we don’t act now, when will we?
This woman’s life was nearly stolen because of hatred. If we ignore this, we’re telling every Muslim woman in Canada that her safety doesn’t matter. That cannot be the message we send.
Source:newmarkettoday.ca
https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/letters-to-the-editor/letter-condemnation-not-enough-after-hijab-wearing-woman-attacked-10428338
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Australia allocates $5 million to support women in Afghanistan
By Fidel Rahmati
March 28, 2025
The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced on Friday a donation of five million dollars to support humanitarian services for women and girls in Afghanistan. This contribution aims to address the critical needs of Afghan women and girls, providing much-needed resources for essential support in the country.
Penny Wong, Australia’s Foreign Minister, has stated that the country is firmly committed to supporting Afghan women and girls. She emphasized Australia’s dedication to standing by these individuals in the face of the challenges they face under the Taliban’s rule.
According to Wong, the women of Afghanistan have demonstrated extraordinary courage in the face of systematic human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by the Taliban. Their resilience is a testament to their strength and determination to overcome such adversities.
A joint statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Australian Department of International Development revealed that an additional five million dollars will be allocated to assist United Nations partners in providing services to women and girls. This aid will help meet critical needs in areas such as sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, and displacement.
Pat Conroy, Australia’s Minister for International Development, stated, “Supporting women and girls in humanitarian emergencies is a cornerstone of our humanitarian policy. We know that the situation under Taliban rule is particularly dire, and we are proud to support the provision of essential health services for Afghan women and girls.”
Australia, along with several other countries, had previously brought the issue of women’s rights violations under the Taliban to the International Criminal Court. This move highlights the international community’s commitment to holding the Taliban accountable for their actions.
Furthermore, this humanitarian aid underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing human rights abuses. Collective actions, like the ones taken by Australia and its allies, are essential in advocating for justice and ensuring the well-being of vulnerable populations across the world.
Source:khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/australia-allocates-5-million-to-support-women-in-afghanistan/
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Why Syrian women are the cornerstone of radical change and rebuilding efforts in post-Assad Syria
27 March, 2025
Amid the devastation caused by years of war, Syrian women are no longer mere victims. They have become a vital force in rebuilding their society, working to overcome the many challenges it faces and reshape its identity.
Having borne the immense loss of loved ones and taken on the responsibility of providing for their families in the most challenging of circumstances, Syrian women now stand on the cusp of a new era. They are armed with the tools to seize opportunities and push for much-needed reform in their country.
It is important to note that, in many families, women became the sole breadwinners, driven by necessity to pursue non-traditional paths into the labour market. Some took on agricultural work, started small businesses, or became educators, all while assuming roles that supported their communities.
In this process, Syrian women have shown their ability to take on responsibilities traditionally seen as 'male' and have demonstrated their capacity to create real change.
One such example is Reem Fadda, a woman in her thirties who, after being displaced from her home in Rif Dimashq to Idlib following a bombing. She was forced to leave by the forces of the former regime.
After her husband’s death in prison, Reem found herself as the sole provider for her family. Despite the immense challenges she faced, she did not give up. Instead, she started a small business making pickles and jams in the rented house she found in Idlib.
With the help of an NGO operating in the area, Reem was able to expand her business and market her products locally. Today, she employs several other women, improving their economic circumstances as well.
"I didn’t know where to start, but I knew I had to do something for my children," she explains. "I began from scratch and worked hard to achieve my goal of being productive without asking for sympathy. I’m proud to have helped other women along the way."
However, Reem emphasises that "real opportunities require legislative and deep-rooted reforms." She points out that Syrian laws currently do not protect women’s rights in the workplace, leaving many women vulnerable to discrimination and harassment, with little or no legal recourse.
Building a better future
Another woman whose determination has made a difference is Samar Darwish, a former teacher from Homs. After the destruction of the school where she worked, Samar took matters into her own hands. She decided to launch an educational initiative for the children in her community, enlisting a team of female volunteers to help.
She began by organising lessons in her own home, providing basic education to local children who had been deprived of schooling due to the war. Thanks to funding from international organisations, Samar’s initiative has grown and now provides learning activities to hundreds of children.
"Education is the only weapon we can give our children to help them build a better future," she asserts. "It is the cornerstone of any rebuilding process, particularly after the destruction of our schools. Despite the lack of books and educational materials, the children’s determination to learn kept me motivated to carry on."
Samar emphasises that Syrian women have shown they are capable of shouldering responsibility in the toughest circumstances. However, they require greater support from both the international and local communities to be empowered to play an active role in the rebuilding process.
"We need to work on changing the stereotype of women and provide them with opportunities," she says.
Supporting Syrian women
Huda Barakat, a lawyer and women’s rights activist, stresses the importance of supporting Syrian women. She believes it is not only a matter of fairness, but a vital strategic investment for Syria’s future. Without the active participation of women, she warns, any rebuilding process will be fragile and unsustainable.
She highlights the social and cultural restrictions in some regions, along with customs and traditions that still limit women's ability to work outside the home, calling for changes in laws and policies that prevent women from fully participating in public life.
She also draws attention to the lack of educational and training opportunities for women, exacerbated by the war’s destruction of schools and educational centres. This has severely restricted women’s access to the necessary education and training to enter the labour market.
Discrimination within the job market remains another significant barrier, especially in fields traditionally considered 'male'.
Huda also stresses the need for much greater resources to be allocated to mental health services, as mental health support will be crucial to Syria’s overall recovery and rebuilding.
'Endless hope and invincible strength'
Lama Bakour, a civil engineer working in reconstruction, challenges the widespread notion that engineering is a profession reserved for men. Although many people still believe engineering to be a male-dominated field, Lama, along with many other women, is proving otherwise.
Currently, Lama is working on bridge and road reconstruction projects in Aleppo, but she notes that the challenges are immense, particularly due to the lack of materials and the unstable security situation.
"Despite the challenges, I believe that we, as women, bring a different perspective to the building process, both practically and socially," she says, adding, "There are many stories of Syrian women quietly working to rebuild their lives and communities, but many of these stories remain untold, even though they carry messages of hope and inspiration."
Lama also calls for the media to adopt a more sensitive approach, one that reflects the challenges women have faced and continue to face, while also highlighting their achievements in the reconstruction process.
"Syrian women carry in their hearts endless hope and invincible strength," she concludes. "We are not only building bridges and roads — we are also building a new future for Syria, one based on justice, equality, and dignity for all."
Peacebuilding efforts from the bottom up
Syrian women refugees in other countries are also mobilising to bring about change and contribute to the rebuilding of their country and society.
Laila Ali, a Syrian refugee in Germany studying information technology, says: "I dream of contributing to developing technological solutions to the problems in our Syrian society. Technology can be a powerful tool in empowering women, especially in regions where traditional education is difficult to access."
Meanwhile, social worker Sara Karameh asserts that rebuilding Syria will not be limited to the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure but will also involve restoring the country's social and cultural fabric, which was torn apart by the war.
She adds that women play a pivotal role in these efforts because, as mothers, teachers, and community leaders, they have the ability to strengthen values such as tolerance and coexistence and build trust between communities where mutual antagonisms and resentments have taken root.
She further notes that, in many areas, women have led local initiatives to rehabilitate schools and hospitals and have organised educational programs for children who have long been deprived of an education.
Building on this, Sara emphasises that Syrian women also play a crucial role in fostering dialogue within society, resolving local disputes, and contributing to peacebuilding efforts from the bottom up.
She further demonstrates that Syrian women have the potential to be the cornerstone of rebuilding a more just and tolerant society, but achieving this requires both local and international support to help them reach their full potential.
Source:newarab.com
https://www.newarab.com/features/why-syrian-women-are-key-radical-change-post-assad-syria
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MUSLIM WOMEN’S DAY 2025 IS CANCELLED — HERE’S WHY.
March 28, 2025
Eight years ago, we created Muslim Women’s Day to claim space that was never created for us. It became a day to center our voices, celebrate our resilience, and shift the global narrative about who Muslim women are and what we stand for. It has become one of the biggest and most influential media campaigns for our voices in the world.
And now, we’re sounding the alarm.
With Muslim Women’s Day aligning with Ramadan for the last time in the foreseeable future, we made the difficult decision to honor the justice that this holy month stands for by canceling our celebration of Muslim Women’s Day 2025. This year, it’s become more clear than ever that our fight isn’t just for symbolic representation. We’re fighting for the right to exist at all.
The censorship of Muslim women’s voices and our allies has already surpassed the fever-pitch of the 2017 Muslim ban that inspired Muslim Women’s Day in the first place. Right now, Muslim creators, journalists, students, storytellers and organizers are being disproportionately silenced at a moment when our voices are urgently needed.
Muslim women are being deplatformed on social media due to shadow bans and censorship; students are being expelled for exercising their right to free speech; activists are being deported for standing up for their communities. This isn’t a glitch, it’s systemic.
And this isn’t happening in the shadows. It’s happening in broad daylight. While the world watches events impacting our communities, the already underrepresented voices trying to tell that story are being muted. The chilling effect? It effectively silences the most vulnerable voices that are impacted by conversations about justice, equality, and human rights.
Let’s be clear: there’s no such thing as being a voice for the voiceless. Everybody has a voice, and there are those that are systematically silenced.
Muslim Women’s Day has convened an historic and global cohort of top partners across industries, from tech giants to organizational heroes and women’s media legacies, to completely transform the media landscape for women over the past decade. These new policies are disproportionately impacting our narratives and threaten to undo all that progress.
This is why Muslim Women’s Day matters more than ever.
Because every time they try to silence us, we only get louder.
But we can’t do it alone.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW:
Speak out against censorship.
Use your platform to call attention to the silencing of Muslim women—especially those speaking out about issues impacting their survival.
Share Muslim women’s content with renewed intention.
Algorithms may suppress us, but people won’t. Repost, follow, tag, credit, and cite the creators, thinkers, and journalists that are under attack. Help their message survive.
Demand better from tech and media companies.
Raise your voice for transparency around moderation policies. If you see some of your favorite creators and voices get taken down or left out of the conversation, don’t stay quiet. Write to platforms. Publicly question their decisions. Refuse to be complicit in silence.
Don’t let your representatives have a moment of quiet.
Call the policymakers in your local communities and at the national level to make your voice heard. Push back against their support of policies that divide us. Encourage their support of the agendas that treat our communities with dignity and equality.
Use #MuslimWomensDay and social media to organize.
This isn’t just a hashtag—it’s a digital protest. Flood the timeline with your truth and assemble with others to become a force. Together, our presence is impossible to ignore.
To every Muslim woman reading this: You were never meant to be quiet. You were born into a legacy of resistance. They might try to silence us, but what they fear most is that we’ll keep talking back anyway.
So, let’s show the world how Muslim Women Talk Back.
With unwavering love, sisterhood and solidarity,
Amani
Source:muslimgirl.com
https://muslimgirl.com/muslim-womens-day-2025-is-cancelled-heres-why/
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Maryland teacher disciplined after allegedly harassing Muslim student over her hijab
March 28th 2025
CLARKSBURG, Md. (7News) — A Maryland elementary school teacher was disciplined after accusations of mistreating one of his students. An 8-year-old Muslim student at Cabin Branch Elementary School in Clarksburg, Maryland, was allegedly harassed by her teacher due to her Muslim faith, advocates said.
The Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has allegedly removed the teacher from his classroom and ensured he has no more contact with the student, according to the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Reports said the teacher allegedly humiliated, threatened, and intimidated the child regarding her hijab. Reports indicate that the teacher made inappropriate comments urging the student to “remove her hijab” and allegedly subjected her to harsher disciplinary measures in comparison to her classmates, which “severely affected” her well-being, CAIR said.
The mistreatment reportedly led to significant anxiety for the girl, including multiple panic attacks that required medical attention from school staff, CAIR said.
“It means everything to my family that my daughter can now feel safe in class,” said the student’s father, according to CAIR. “No one’s kid should have to deal with this kind of situation from their teachers, no matter their religion.”
Source:wjla.com
https://wjla.com/news/local/cabin-branch-elementary-school-montgomery-county-public-schools-maryland-teacher-disciplined-muslim-islam-student-remove-hijab-council-on-american-islamic-relations-cair-clarksburg
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Queen Rania of Jordan hosts iftar banquet for women in armed forces
March 27, 2025
LONDON: Queen Rania of Jordan on Wednesday evening hosted an iftar banquet at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman for women serving in the country’s armed forces and security services.
She conveyed King Abdullah II’s greetings to the guests and praised them as “an example of dedication and service to the nation,” the Petra agency reported.
“Your stances, whether inside or outside Jordan, make us proud,” she said.
The queen said a unique bond between citizens and the military had developed over the years.
“It’s a natural relationship based on trust, love and respect for the military’s motto. Most of our homes have either a military person or someone related to the army or security,” she said.
The queen spoke directly to several of the guests about their lives and families.
“May God protect you as a source of strength for the nation and support for your colleagues in serving this country,” she said.
Source:arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2595050/middle-east
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/harsh-hope-realities-women-iran/d/135002