Ebadi Tackles Women’s Roles

Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner, tackled how democracy and women’s rights develop simultaneously and urged America to leave Iran’s troubles to the Iranian people last night in Barnard Hall.

Ebadi, a controversial public figure, won the Peace Prize in 2003 for groundbreaking work in women’s and children’s rights. A lawyer and human rights activist, Ebadi has served as president of the city court of Tehran, represented families of intellectuals who were victims of serial murders, and helped expose the perpetrators of the 1999 attack on students in Tehran.

As Ebadi made her way towards Barnard Hall’s Held Auditorium, security guards closed off tunnels, since Ebadi visited Columbia about one week after Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the country’s police chief to secure her safety due to intensifying death threats.

Barnard President Judith Shapiro introduced Ebadi in Farsi, switching to English to call Ebadi “a particular role model for Barnard women.”

Ebadi’s speech on “The Role of Women in World Peace,” focused heavily on Iran’s feminist movement, which Ebadi argued is strong because of the democratic values that both men and women hold and the movement’s lack of a single leader. She spoke through a translator.

Ebadi said that civilization has not advanced enough to give equal rights to men and women and that degrees of oppression exist in every culture. Oppression varies by culture, Ebadi said, and even in America—where genders have equal rights—women do not enjoy maximum freedom because of their dual roles as mothers and professionals.

Ebadi went on to highlight women’s progress in Iran, noting that over 65 percent of university students are female and that one of Ahmadinejad’s vice presidents is female—an observation meant to show how “women have even infiltrated the radical forces of Iran, and radicals can no longer ignore the capabilities of Iranian women.”

Still, despite advances, discrimination against women in Iran persists, particularly following the 1979 revolution, when discriminatory laws were passed against women stating that women are valued half as much as men.

Ebadi explained this discrimination as a product of “the patriarchal culture” that spans the Muslim world, though some leaders mistakenly cite religion as the source of discriminatory laws. “I’m not referring to men,” Ebadi said, “but rather a long culture that basically finds the equality of genders unacceptable.” Patriarchal culture oppresses men and women, “because it does not believe in democracy,” she said.

Ebadi also spoke on the conflict surrounding Iran, saying “improvement of the situation of Iran is the responsibility of the people in Iran and has nothing to do with the stationing of foreign troops in our country.” She said that foreign attacks and threats on the Iranian government will only harm human rights efforts, since the government would act under the guise of “national security” to suppress “those who are seeking more freedom in the country.”

Ebadi ended on a positive note, saying that Iranians flourish in America, “so let us forget our governments and continue our friendship.”

Ebadi’s appearance was organized by students Shirin Soufian—who introduced Ebadi as her “personal hero”—and Natasha Sarraf, both BC ’08. Soufian requested that the audience, including University President Lee Bollinger, “open your imagination free as to behold the meaning for an individual to change the world as an advocate of the voiceless.”

In an interview after the event, Bollinger said he attended the event out of “highest respect and regard for Shirin Ebadi.” Bollinger commended Ebadi’s nuanced understanding of patriarchy. “She clearly, in her person, displays the character and resolve that is so important in advancing human rights.”

joy.resmovits@columbiaspectator.com