MARIWAN, Iran - The sound of crying from the child who was separated from his mother in court still echoes in the ears of Gullalla. She’s angry that, as this helpless woman’s lawyer, she couldn’t convince the court how much of a tragedy the separation would be for this mother and child. The image of the sobbing rural woman does not leave her mind, and she’s reminded of the sight every day.
In addition to the many legal discriminations that women in Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan) have to deal with, such as not having the right to ask for divorce, not obtaining custody of their children after separation, forced marriages, and domestic violence, some women also have to deal with outdated traditional and cultural discriminations, such as being victims of honor killings and being deprived inheritance shares from their families.
Despite the countless problems and barriers that women face, female activists in the Kurdish provinces of western Iran are refusing to stand for these injustices and are fighting the ancient traditions and outdated laws of the community.
Gullalla Watandust is a female lawyer from the western Iranian city of Mariwan, on the border with the Kurdistan Region. She’s one of the women who has become a beacon of hope for many in distress, who do not have the financial capacity to hire a lawyer and ask for their rights in court.
After a day of headaches and fatigue from being in court, Gullalla speaks to Rudaw English from her office on the third floor of a building in eastern Mariwan, and addresses the pain and problems of women in Rojhelat.
Gullalla, who’s worked as a lawyer for the past ten years, says that most of her cases involve problems of struggling women. “Most of the issues of women in Rojhelat are due to legal fragmentations", she explained, "such as not having the rights to request a divorce. The lion’s share of these fragmentations mainly impact the women negatively because the men have the right to divorce and abuse women as much they like. This is at a time when the Kurdish community still looks condescendingly at women who have been divorced.”
Gullalla, whose fatigue from the day in court can be seen through her eyes, added, “Additionally, women not having the right of custody to children over the age of seven, once they separate from their husbands is another issue, because sometimes they do not even follow the law of allowing mothers to raise their kids until the age of seven. Some fathers abduct their children and create bigger problems. Not to mention the many obstacles against women in the name of honor, which paves the way for violence against women.”
Other issues that women in Rojhelat face include forcing underage girls into marriage, as well as problems of inheritance. According to Iranian law, women are entitled to half of whatever the males in the family inherit. Yet, in some cases, especially in the villages and the tribal regions, they do not even receive half, and the negative mindset prevails that women who receive their half of the inheritance are not "good" women. The lack of freedom to pursue education and to go outside are some of the other problems.
Solving the issues women face requires a multi-dimensional movement
Gullalla, who is also a founding member of the “Women of Zhivano” organization which specializes in working towards obtaining rights for women, refers to the violence that a number of women in Rojhelat have been subjected to in the past year. “The asserted state of gender discrimination against women in Rojhelat, the same as the communities in eastern Nawin, is the product of the unending historical injustice towards women. In addition to the economic and social struggles, women get the fair share of domestic violence and misfortune,” she says.
Gullalla addresses the spread of social media use in Iran and Rojhelat, stating, “The social networks unveil the curtain on the injustices that women face, but if used with the wrong intentions, they can serve towards more suffering and injustice for women. What we formally see from the Iranian government in the media, is an orchestrated plan meant to oppress all women, which is something that needs to be revised.”
Gullalla believes that a good lawyer should not allow anyone to threaten them. She says, “Unfortunately, central feminism in Iran does not pay much attention to villages and the rural areas. However, if we wish to solve the issues of women in Rojhelat, we need a collective effort that covers all aspects of life, so that issues of women become the topic of discussion. Women’s rights activists, feminist men, and civil activists should try to raise awareness of the community.”
Gullalla also discusses an odd rule amongst Sunni Muslims, and especially followers of the Shafi'i madhab, which composes a large section of the Rojhelat population, which is called “Ta’ssib”. According to this rule, a part of the inheritance of men who only have female offspring and no male offspring will be given to their brothers and fathers. "In fear of this scenario, most men prefer to have boys over girls,” she says.
This is a highly problematic rule towards women in today’s world; one that encourages parents to desire only boys, and in many cases leads to girls being aborted as foetuses if the woman cannot give birth to boys. It’s either that, or she keeps giving birth until one child is a boy. Otherwise, her husband might marry another women and risk leaving her with no support.
Gullalla adds, “Even though March 8th is the international day for women and is a symbol for women’s fight towards gender equality, we should not only discuss women who are physically female. The rights of transwomen, people who were born in bodies of men but identify as women in spirit, should also be sought after. One of the failures of the Kurdistan and Iran feminist movements is that they have not raised their voice in support of Trans rights.”
Gullalla discusses another instance of regression in Rojhelat when it comes to freedom of girls, saying, “Girls my age, we could pursue an education in the faraway cities of Iran, but what shocks me is the fact that now, most families take a stance against their girls going to a university outside of their own cities, which is a regression that should investigated.”
The lawyer and women’s activist concluded her thoughts. “Even though it is the responsibility of women to fight for their own rights, to achieve this equality, upstanding men should join the battle so that we can have a fortunate community.”
According to a recently published report from the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, from March 2021 to March 2022, at least 94 women committed suicide in different cities of Iranian Kurdistan, and 41 women were killed. According to that same report, the rate of women suicide has declined compared to the previous year, but the rate of women being murdered by their close ones has increased.
Translation by Chenar Chalak
