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Activists Call For End To Discrimination Against Women In Iran

March 08, 2007

Shirin Ebadi (file photo) (AFP)

March 8, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- An Iranian Nobel Peace laureate and the head of rights group Amnesty International have made a joint call for an end to Iranian laws that discriminate against women.

In a statement to coincide with International Women's Day, Shirin Ebadi and Irene Khan said Iranian law treats women as if they were second-class citizens by excluding them from critical areas of political participation.

Ebadi and Khan said the women of Iran were entitled to equal status with men under the Iranian legal system, while the Universal Declaration of Human Rights denounces discrimination on grounds of sex.

They said recognizing women's equal rights was an essential requirement for the creation of strong, sustainable, and stable societies.

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Women In Iran

Women in Tehran (epa file photo)

CALLING FOR MORE RIGHTS: Although women played key roles in Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the place of women in post-revolutionary society has been a vexing question. Iranian women have struggled to bring attention to their calls for greater rights in their country's rigid theocratic system, calls that have often clashed with the values proclaimed by conservatives in society. (more)