An Interview with Mahnaz Afkhami, Minister of Women Affairs in Pahlavi-era Iran
BBC Persian News – by Maryam Ghanbarzadeh
Women’s organizations in Iran were commonplace in the period before the Islamic Revolution and largely run by women volunteers who served in the early fifties [text continues in Persian]….
The Current – CBC Radio/ By Anna Maria Tremonti
Listen to the Interview (Streaming)
Women have often played leading roles in pushing for change in the Arab and Muslim worlds. But when the dust settles, the gains they think they have made are often elusive. For their thoughts on why that is and whether things may be different this time … we were joined by three women who have spent decades trying to improve the position of women in their societies.
Before the Iranian revolution, Mahnaz Afkhami was Iran’s Minister for Women’s Affairs….
Over the past two months protest movements have transformed the face of governments across the Middle East and North Africa. As the upheaval continues, we examine the role of women in these demonstrations, and how new regimes will affect women’s rights throughout the region. Will they bring greater freedoms, or impose further constraints?
NPR KQED Radio / By Michael Krasny / Listen
Tell Me More – NPR/ By Michel Martin
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Women have been at the forefront of the pro-democracy demonstrations sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa. But will efforts at reform and revolution, lead to increased legal rights and a greater role for women in politics in Arab nations?
Nerikes Allehanda – By Inger Nordahl
What hides behind gender-based violence is often a patriarchal society, where the struggle for equality can seem impossible.
As an Iranian, Mahnaz Afkhami understands this. In the 1970s she was named one of the world’s first-ever ministers of women’s affairs. She succeeded in changing the conditions for Iranian women, including investments in child care and paid maternity leave. Then came the revolution. [Text continues in Swedish...]
New America Media / By Sandip Roy / Listen
A year after the controversial elections in Iran, what is the status of the opposition movement? Mahnaz Afkahmi speaks of the women who were at the forefront of protests, and of the regime’s attempt to behead the democratic movement. Indeed almost all activists from the June 2009 protests have been imprisoned, harassed, or tortured. Those who were released from prison and allowed to travel were then often tried in absentia and heavily sentenced, effectively condemning them to exile.
International Museum of Women / By Clare Winterton / Listen
Mahnaz Afkhami spoke with I.M.O.W. Executive Director Clare Winterton as part of the Extraordinary Voices, Extraordinary Change Speaker Series. Together they covered a variety of subjects, including the WLP partnership goal of changing the architecture of human relations, and Mahnaz’s hand in helping to create a new generation of powerful women in the Muslim World.
NPR KQED Radio / By Michael Krasny / Listen
In her new book, “Paradise Beneath Her Feet,” Isobel Coleman profiles women she calls quiet revolutionaries who are working for social justice in the Middle East. We’ll also check in with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of Islamic fundamentalism, and Mahnaz Afkhami. In the interview, Afkhami takes issue with Muslim ‘exceptionalism’ and emphasizes the importance of mutual empowerment, learning and solidarity between women’s rights advocates.
The Jakarta Post / By Lilian Budianto
Iran’s Mahnaz Afkhami, Russia’s Dokka Itslaev, Venezuela’s Roberto Patino and Syria’s Radwan Ziadeh will receive the John Boyce Hurford honor. Hurford was a philanthropist who helped form the World Movement for Democracy, which is meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Economist / By R.L.G.
Perhaps the most interesting point from the perspective of American policy is that Shirin Ebadi simply does not think this government can or will negotiate nuclear issues in good faith with America. Mahnaz Afkhami noted that anti-Americanism is one of the few claims on legitimacy the government has left. This is why neither of them thought the Americans should waste time talking about nukes when the government can never agree, and why America should instead focus on supporting the greens.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011