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Feminists

Statement by Ukrainian Feminists in Solidarity with Iranian Women

by Collective

We, Ukrainian feminists, express our solidarity with Iranian uprising, triggered by the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian moral police. Thousands of women responded to this crime by going out on the streets, cutting their hair and publicly taking off and burning hijabs as a symbol of their oppression. What started as a protest against police brutality and obligatory hijab, quickly transformed into a general resistance of the Iranian people against the patriarchal and dictatorial mullah regime and the authoritarian form of capitalism that it represents. The grassroot mobilization is today being joined by schoolgirls, students, trade unions, ethnic minorities, and people from other social groups affected by the economic crises, high food prices, social cuts, and privatization. This new wave of struggles thus continues and expands the series of uprisings against socio-economic inequalities, political oppression and ethnic disctimination that shook Iran during the last decade.

Slogans “Woman, life, freedom” and “Death to the dictator” have been spreading from Iranian Kurdistan all over the country and to squares all over the world. Crossing the boundaries of social groups and classes, this wave of resistance holds the figure of an Iranian woman in its center – the one who struggles for her own and others lives. We express our support of the protesters’ demands, including:

  • Change of dictatorial regime and democratization of political life;
  • Reduction of socio-economic inequality, development of social protection, guarantee and respect of labor rights;
  • Women’s autonomy over their bodies and lives, including right for women to choose whether or not to wear hijab;
  • Justice and protection against violence in public and private spaces;

The popular uprising in Iran is facing severe repression. Hundreds of demonstrators have already been murdered, wounded or arrested. But the Iranian state is not only oppressing its own citizens. It also provides support for other oppressive and imperialist regimes. During the last few weeks, Iranian drones employed by the Russian army have killed tens of civilians and destroyed countless housing and critical infrastructure objects in Ukraine. The fight of the Iranian people for their own freedom is also a fight for the freedom and the security of ordinary Ukrainians.

For eight months now, Ukrainian men and women have been resisting Putin’s imperialist aggression. Iranians continue to struggle against their own dictatorial, ultraconservative regime and elite-profiting economy.

Freedom for Iran! Freedom for Ukraine! All together we will win!

Signed by:

Organizations
NGO Feminist Workshop
NGO Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement)
Feminist Lodge
NGO Girls
NGO “Women’s Association “Sphere”
Gender Stream
Feminists of Kyiv, Independent English-language media
Democracy Development Center
Rural women in Ukraine
Public Alliance “Political action of women”
NGO “Centre of Gender Culture ”
Gender in Detail expert resource

Individual signatures
Daria Saburova, researcher, member of the “European Network of Solidarity with Ukraine”
Oksana Dutchak, sociologist, co-editor of Commons/Spilne
Viktoriia Pihul, feminist, activist, member of “Social Movement/Sotsialnyi Rukh” Council
Iryna Zahladko, writer
Oksana Kis, historian of women
Nastey Teor, visual artist and graphic designer
Maryna Lykhoshva, IT Analyst
Dr. Svitlana Babenko, docent, head of MA Program “Gender Studies”, Faculty of Sociology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Artur Sumarokov, playwright & cinema critic
Zhabka Anastasiia, student
Marta Romankiv, artist
Ira Lobanok, musician/music producer
Oksana Briukhovetska, artist, curator, MFA candidate at Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan
Maria Podzerey, IT-worker
Anastasia Shevelova, artist, graphic designer, photographer
Liliia Hryhorieva, JSC “Ukrtelecom”, member of the trade union of telecommunications workers of Ukraine
Kateryna Polevianenko, UI/UX designer
Anya Kudrinova, teacher, “Teach for Ukraine” fellow
Fishchenko Anastasiia, student, grassroot activist from the collective Solidarity Kitchen
Polina Vyzhak, advisor in Adolescent Girls Advisory Council and Artist Changemaker Advisory Council by Global Fund for Women
Dr. Tamara Martsenyuk, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine)