Summary

A panel of activists discuss women's efforts to change public opinion, laws, and policies in order to build democratic and inclusive societies in the Middle East during WLP's event, Women & the Politics of Change in the Middle East. Mahnaz Afkhami, Lina Abou-Habib, Wajeeha Al-Baharna, Rabéa Naciri, Asma Khader, and Azar Nafisi campaign for justice in Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Bahrain, and share their challenges and successes in demanding equal rights as citizens – in the family and in society. Their campaigns grew from local experience and spread across national and regional divisions, and include Iran’s One Million Signatures for reform of family laws, the Arab regional CEDAW campaign, Equality without Reservation, and the Claiming Equal Citizenship campaign for reform of nationality laws in the Middle East.

This event also launches the book, Iranian Women’s One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality: The Inside Story, written by campaign co-founder Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani. The book details the history, strategies, and values of a movement that brought world attention to the injustice of gender apartheid in Iran. Through door-to-door visits, impromptu street theater, and use of alternative media, the campaign’s coordinated efforts, fraught with great risks and sacrifice, contributed to the solidarity that resulted in public protests against the contested presidential elections of June 2009. 

Runtime: [01:56:49]

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