Women´s Revolution in Iran: Women Life Freedom
Conference organized by Ourania Roditi with the support of Homa Bazafkan and WIDE
The aim of this hybrid conference is to provide a platform for discussion and exchange of ideas. Scholars from different disciplines, activists and intellectuals will debate their take on the current state of women’s rights in Iran, what makes this revolution different from similar unrests in the past, the role of minorities and minority women and the prospects for the future. The goal is also to more generally debate what this revolution means in terms of female empowerment at a global scale, the role of diaspora and the effect it may have on other women’s movements worldwide.
PANEL 1: Women’s Revolution in Iran: The Interplay between Politics, Religion and Art
– Sholeh Zamini, Guest Speaker, Women’s rights activist and co-founder of ‚All human rights for All in Iran
– Jaleh Lackner-Gohari, M.D. former medical Officer and coordinator to UN Agencies and Peacekeeping Missions. Civil Society and Women’s Rights activist – Reflections on the Impact of Women’s Meaningful and Inspiring Resistance on Interplay between Creativity, Art and Censorship in the Islamic Republic of Iran
– Fred Petrossian, journalist and researcher (MvoicesIran, Global Voices) – Women & Religious Minorities: triple violence & resistance
– Nazila Golestan – content strategist, editorial director, writer and producer, anti-corruption strategist – The Industry of Oppression and Crime against Iranian Women
– Sama Maani, author and psychoanalyst – The Elephant in the Room – The role of religion in the recent history of Iran and in the current feminist revolution
PANEL 2: A look into Minorities‘ role: The case of Baluchs, Sunni Kurds and Turkish women in Iran
– Nasser Boladai, spokesperson of BPP (Balochistan People’s Party) and a member of the International Committee of the CNFI (Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran – Women Life Freedom: Baloch peoples struggle for religious, and national rights and equality
– Fariba Borhanzahi, human rights defender from Sweden – Women of Balochistan and the double discrimination against the Baloch people
– Gelavizh Abolhassani, PhD Candidate and Artist, University of Applied Arts, Vienna & Amin Rezaie, Artist, University of Vienna – Exhibition and Statement on behalf of the ‚Women Life Freedom project‘
PANEL 3: Gender, Politics and the Women’s Movement
– Mahdieh Golroo, Women-rights and Political Activist, Analyst, and Journalist – Gender Apartheid and the Jina Revolution
– Elmar Kuhn, president of the Coalition of Faith Based Organisations – Religion Education for Freedom
– Haifa Sara Asadi, Gender, racial and ethnic justice activist – Ahwazi Arab Women at the Intersection of Discriminations
– Jaleh Tchalabiani, President / Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Association for the Defence of Human Rights of Azerbaijanis of Iran ArcDH: The situation of Azerbaijanis in Iran
PANEL 4: A look into Minorities‘ Role, part 2: Kurdish Iranians, Baha’i, Ahwazi Arabs and Christians
– Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian, Representative of the Bahá’í Religious Community in Austria
– Soraya Fallah, Published Scholar and Women’s Rights Expert United Nation Association Advocacy Chair Global Citizen Award Recipient – Struggles of Hyphenated Identity in the “Women Life Freedom” Revolution: Case of Kurdish Women in Iran
– Nazanin Ansari-Tari, Article 18 London – Christian minority’s contribution to the Woman Life Freedom Revolution.
– Ava Homa, lecturer at the California State University – The Path to Freedom in Iran is through Women and Minorities
– Homa Bazafkan, researcher, women’s rights activist and PhD candidate with the University of Graz – Political gaps, how does the Islamic regime use this polarisation for its agenda against the women’s emancipation movement and the people of Iran?
Supported by the City of Vienna, UNSA Vienna, and the Coalition of faith-based organizations