Roundtable Discussion on International Women's Day

March 8th is International Women's Day, a day to honor what women in many countries around the world have fought for decades to achieve. These achievements are the result of campaigns lasting nearly a century in some countries and newer efforts in others. Leila Ali Karami, a lawyer from the UK, Asieh Amini, a journalist and women's rights activist from Norway, and Hossein Ghazian, a sociologist from the USA, are guests at another roundtable discussion for International Women's Day. Hossein Ghazian states, "Iranian women are undoubtedly one of the most important social forces that have achieved significant accomplishments through their struggles and resistance, especially over the past three decades. However, these are not necessarily related to the issue of International Women's Day." He adds that, to be honest, this day is not taken seriously in our society and has not gained traction. Asieh Amini discusses the similarities in the goals of those involved in establishing this international day and sees the efforts of women's rights activists in Iran as aligned with the pursuit of equality, adding that, "Unfortunately, we do not see the bright and vigorous days, at least not as we did in the past two decades. The energy and dynamism that existed in the Iranian women's movement, those movements that came out of homes and took on a social and public form, have unfortunately diminished due to political repression." Leila Ali Karami states that "March 8th is a blessed day for all women as it recognizes their efforts. She adds that Iranian women have gone through revolutions, wars, and numerous crises and have established their place in society, which I consider a significant achievement." All three guests point to the significant role of the Islamic Republic's laws in restricting women's freedoms.