Netherlands Conference: Confronting Violence Against Women in Iran

Maryam Rajavi: Bringing Down the Clerical Regime Is a Decisive Step in Fighting Violence against Women

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, I send my greetings to all women who resist violence and all forms of oppression, inequality, and tyranny.
On this day, above all, the religious dictatorship ruling Iran becomes the target of anger and condemnation. It is the worst enemy of women and of human rights.

The Mullahs Institutionalized Violence against Women

This regime considers the creation of a reactionary rule in the name of Islam as its mission. It relies on religious discrimination, forced religion, terrorism, and the use of the most brutal punishments in the name of Islam.
The mullahs have institutionalized violence and repression against the people of Iran, especially women. They have taken away women’s rights and freedoms. They consider women as second-class human beings.
They have used the compulsory hijab law, as a constant  tool of violence against women. Iranian women are always at risk of arrest. They feel unsafe in society, and they are murdered, sexually assaulted, and humiliated. At least 53 women have been hanged in Iran, so far, in 2025.
Nevertheless, the greatest violence against women is political repression. Under this regime, tens of thousands of female political prisoners have been tortured or executed. This includes the 1988 massacre, which was recently noted in the resolution adopted by the Third Committee of the UN.

Being a Woman Considered a Crime under the Clerical Regime

For the mullahs, a rebellious woman has committed the worst crimes: being a woman, refusing to obey, resisting surrender, joining the struggle, and seeing herself as equal.
Therefore, the mullahs believe that the most important role of women is homemaking. In courts, the value of a woman’s testimony is half that of a man. Women are not allowed to become president or judges. These laws question the basic humanity of women.
However, Iranian women have risen up against all these forms of oppression. Their slogan is “Woman, Resistance, Freedom.”
The pressure on women prisoners includes denying them medical care. Recently, the political prisoner Somayyeh Rashidi died because of delayed medical care. At present, political prisoner Zahra Tabari is facing a death sentence.

Women’s Pivotal Role in the Iranian Resistance

Violence against women, their humiliation, and various forms of inequality are main elements of fundamentalism in the name of Islam.
As long as these beliefs and the relations that come with them exist, there will be no real democracy and no true freedom. For this reason, the Iranian Resistance has made the liberation of women a central part of its struggle against religious fascism.
For more than four decades, this Resistance has fought to bring down the religious dictatorship and replace it with a democratic republic. The Iranian Resistance rejects both the Shah and the mullahs’ dictatorships.
It has a modern and democratic platform to establish a republic based on the separation of religion and state, gender equality, pluralism, the abolition of the death penalty, autonomy for Iranian Kurdistan, and a non-nuclear Iran.
With the support of its social base and the dedicated work of its members, the Iranian Resistance has dealt major blows to the regime, including exposing its secret nuclear program.
Nevertheless, the greatest blow to the regime has been encouraging women’s resistance. More than forty years ago, this movement became the leader for gender equality.
It also insisted on the equal and active participation of women in political leadership. More than half of the members of the National Council of Resistance are women. In the PMOI, which is the main force of this coalition, women have held key leadership positions for many years.
I have always said that women are the force for change, and that the active and equal participation of women in political leadership is essential for democracy.
The leading women of Iran will achieve the fall of the mullahs’ religious dictatorship.
Bringing down this regime is a decisive step in the global fight against violence against women and their repression.

Using this opportunity, I ask the honorable members of the Parliament and Senate of the Netherlands to encourage their government to make a fundamental change in its policy toward Iran.
It should condition its trade and diplomatic relations with Iran to a halt to executions, and it should place the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the terrorist list.