9
…they evoke a response which, because the regime claims not only divine, but also
electoral authority, cannot be simply a pro forma negative. Explanations are demanded,
interpretations offered, responses written, arguments engaged. Because a basis in religion
is also claimed, texts are produced authorities cited, rationalizations proffered, and each
proffer can in its turn be the subjects of counterproofs and traverses. Like a trial, such a
public conversation creates a process of public engagement, a space of discourse hitherto
unknown, and contributes to the legitimation of multiple voices.
18
Hoodfar also highlights the women’s movement’s use of processes of persuasion and
strategy of taking their case directly to the public:
An overview of the discussion around gender issues and the position of women make it
clear that women activists have been bypassing the government and law-making bodies
by taking their issues directly to the public through print media, women’s religious
gatherings, and sometimes via radio and television. They expose injustices suffered by
women in the name of creating a “just” Islamic society, and invite the public to be the
judge. The language used is often simple, marked by everyday religious concepts and
metaphors, and usually in the context of real life stories. The discourse appears ‘personal’
with no apparent political tendency or agenda, and thus escapes censorship. In this way
women’s complaints are introduced into public conversations, galvanizing support and
sympathy, sometimes to the extent that religious/political leaders feel obliged to engage
in the debates.
19
Examples of the women’s movement strategy of using persuasion, deliberation,
and negotiation in more formal and structured attempts to influence policy and foster the
social learning of actors shaping policy are also numerous. Delegations from the CWP
and the Women’s Faction of the Parliament regularly met with the officials of
conservative institutions such as the judiciary, and senior clerics to discuss the need and
possibilities for legal reforms in areas such as blood money, inheritance rights, or
divorce.
20
At seminars and conferences on women’s issues, conservatives and clerics
were regularly invited, engaged, and frequently challenged by Islamic feminists.
21
Geramizadehgan’s response to a question regarding whether women’s efforts are taken
seriously, demonstrates the extent to which women’s rights activists are attuned to and
rely on the vary mechanisms of social learning detailed by constructivists.
I think our women have reached the point that this would not be a formality and dialogue
with women forces the person they address to be accountable to them and participate.
Maybe I would not have said this a few years ago, but I think that with their actions, our
women have forced others into the dialogue.
For example in the diyeh (blood money) debate we went to Qom and spoke to
several ulama. Before we went we were told we would face problems…. I felt that with
18
Louise Halper, “Interpretations of Law and Gender: Living Shari’a in Iran” Washington & Lee Public
Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series, Working Paper No. 03-18 (October 2003) Available from
the Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection at
http://ssm.com/abstract=45323
, at 43-
44.
19
Homa Hoodfar, “The Women’s Movement in Iran: women at the Crossroads of Secularizationa dn
Islamization” (Winter 1999) Women Living Under Muslim Laws, Women’s Movement Series #1, at 19.
20
See for example “Iran’s Judiciary Chief Urges Recognition of Women’s Rights” Peyvand News
(3/12/03) available at
http://www.payvand.com/news/03/mar/1063.html
or “Female MPs set to Promote
Women’s Rights” Payvand News (12/4/02) available at
http://www.payvand.com/news/02/dec/1017.html
.
21
I witnessed this at the Violence Against Women Workshop held as part of the UNDP-sponsored Project
on Strengthening the Capacity for Human Rights Research and Training held at Tehran University as well
as in the Sanandaj conference on Women’s Rights sponsored by the Women’s Affairs division of the
Interior Ministry held in Sanadaj, Kurdestan. Both were held in the summer of 2000.
Convention