WUNRN
http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/global-news/mid-east/iran/4872-farinaz-khosravani.html
Iran - Silence Did Not Protect
Farinaz Khosravani
The late Farinaz Khosravani
of Iran
By Elahe Amani*
May 12, 2015 - Audre Lorde,
feminist scholar of 1970s once said, “Your
silence will not protect you”, and women globally know this
reality.
While gender justice has
moved closer from margin to the center of global agenda particularly during the
last 40 years, still patriarchal power structure is deep rooted in many parts
of the world. One billion rising to end gender violence is the
manifestation of one of the many campaigns to end gender based violence in
public as well as private, in home as well as community, by governments, in
conflict zones as well as assembly lines. The reality is that our world in
neither safe for women who are silent because they feel it protects them from a
whole host of harms nor it is safe for women who are brave and outspoken, women
who believe their silence neither protect them nor other women, for women who
risk their lives to stand tall against misogyny, patriarchal power structure
and gender violence. We are witnessing that the lives of women like Farkhunda
in Kabul and Farinaz in Mahabad are being perished. We also witness the death
of brave women like Selwa Bugaidhis in Libya, Sabeen Mohamud in Pakistan and
even arrests and detentions of women who stand on the side of justice like Nargess
Mohammadi in Iran who broke the code of patriarchal silence.
On May 4th, Farinaz Khosravani, a 25 year-old Iranian Kurdish
woman fell/jumped from the fourth floor of Tara Hotel in Mahabad where she
worked. Mahabad is a city in northwestern Iran with approximately 280,000
ethnic Kurds. While the exact circumstances about her death are
still unexplained, the Kurdish media reported that at the time that she was
alone with a member of Iran’s intelligence and security forces. Amnesty
International article on May 8th, referenced
that people of Mahabad alleged that the member of Iran‘s intelligence and
security forces had threatened to rape Farinaz.
Following the incident,
angered demonstrators clashed with police on Thursday May 7th and set the hotel on fire and throwing
furniture from the Tara Hotel’s rooms. According to ARA
News at least two people were killed and over 50 were injured
when riot police resorted to tear gas, bullets and batons to disperse the
demonstrators.
Said Boumedouha, Deputy
Director of MENA region at Amnesty International said that Amnesty
International has not yet been able to verify the precise number of arrests and
casualties. He also added that “We have long documented how
Iran’s security forces have a history of using excessive force to quell
protests – in direct violation of international law” and “Instead of resorting to intimidation and excessive force, the
authorities must launch a prompt, impartial and independent investigation into
the circumstances that led to the death of the young woman in Mahabad as well
as the allegations about the use of excessive force in the policing of protests
that her death sparked.”
Mahabad Mayor Jaafar Katani
told Iraqi Kurdish news agency Rudaw that “people must wait until the
investigation results are out”.Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'I spoke person of the
Justice Department also made comments related to this case and encouraged
people to wait for the result of the investigation. Mahabad's prosecutor, Aslan
Heydari, also stated in his interview with IRNA on May 8th that investigation into the
"suspicious" death of the woman is being conducted "very
carefully." Officials in Iran, connecting the sparked demonstrations to instigation
of foreign media and inviting people to be calm and trust the authorities for
conducting their investigation. The narrative coming out of the local residents
in Mahabad is that the owner of the Tara Hotel
Nader Molodi made arrangements with the members of the intelligence and
security forces to uprate his hotel from four to a five star hotel in exchange
of making arrangements so that Farinaz be made available to him. The story
concludes that when Farinaz was in the hotel room with the intelligence
officer, facing to be raped, she decided to jump from the fourth floor and
commit suicide to keep the honor of her family.
While the exact circumstances
of Farinaz death is still not known, what were her choices? How would the
community that are now setting the hotel on fire and demanding justice would
have reacted to her if she was alive? Was her life in danger in the hands of
the close male relatives, to keep the “honor “of their family? Would the
community ostracize her even if she would have not been killed in the name of
“honor”?
How would Farinaz have
reacted if she believed that she could defend the integrity of her body and
protect herself from the rape? Would the legal system defend her? How would the
community would have responded to her? Would the crowd in the streets of Mahabad
have defended her human rights to protect herself even if she had to resort to
violence?
Farinaz
and hundreds of women and girls like Farinaz know firsthand that a rape victim
will be re-victimized in societies like Iran. They know firsthand that even the
faded away laws on the book does not mean justice being served for
them. They know the world is not a safe place for them. Let us all
transform silence Into action. Silence will not protect us!
Peace activist and WNN Women
News Network special reporter on Iran, Elahe Amani, works with
immigrant women who are part of the South Asian, Iranian and the Middle Eastern
ethnic communities in Southern California to help women from these communities
build peace at home and in society. Amani is also chair of Global Circles at
Women’s Intercultural Network, a global women’s organization with grassroot
circles in Uganda, Japan and Afghanistan. Amani has also lectured through the
Women’s Studies Department and is also on the advisory board of The Women
Center at CSU’s California State University in Long Beach, California.