Interview by: Sussan Tahmasebi,
Change for Equality
Hoda,
can you tell us about yourself?
I am Hoda Aminian. I am 25 years
old. I have a BS in Surveying and am currently working on my Masters in City
Planning. My focus is on women and the use of public spaces.
Why did you
become interested in women's issues?
I believe this interest in all
activists can be traced back to personal experiences. When you enter society and
see how things are, then you develop sensitivities to what transpires with
respect to women. You learn to question how things are. Some don't bother with
these kinds of questions, but for me, I was always aware of disparities in the
treatment of women and men-at the social level, at the university level and even
within my own family. This sensitivity increased to the point where I felt like
I needed to get involved and do something.
When I entered the University I was
one of the first few female students to enter into political activity, at the
Islamic Student Association. The space provided to female students for activity
was very limited at that point (early 2000s), and to be fair female students
weren't really pushing to be involved in this way either. Perhaps they did not
see themselves in this role. So, I was chastised for my involvement in student
organizations, I was told that I should be concerned with my own life-that I
should be focused on finding a good husband, a good job, etc.
How did you get
involved in the Campaign?
I found the Campaign on the
internet. Actually, I entered the Women's movement with the Campaign. I had
previously tried to join women's NGOs and to become involved in the women's
movement but had not met with success in this respect. The Campaign changed all
this, allowing for newer and younger activists to get involved in the women's
movement. I attended a workshop organized by Campaign activists on legal rights
of women in the second month after the Campaign's launch. At first I just
collected signatures and I attended regular meetings set up for volunteers. When
the number of volunteers increased we realized that we needed to set up a
committee to follow up with them and I joined this Committee, where I am still
active. In the Volunteers Committee we follow up with volunteers, set up
training workshops for them like ones on violence and citizens rights and gender
sensitivity, we set up group signature drives, collect the signatures they have
collected, etc. The Volunteers Committee serves as a bridge between the
volunteers and the activists who are more involved in the Campaign. It
facilitates increased engagement of volunteers who are interested in joining the
Committees of the Campaign. We currently have 480 volunteers in Tehran working
with us. Some are more active and some only collect signatures. We try to share
news and information with these volunteers about what is going on in the
Campaign.
What impact do
you think that the security pressures have had on the volunteers of the
Campaign?
Well I can speak about the
volunteers I follow up with. None of them have expressed concern with respect to
the security pressures. From among the 50 that I follow up with, none have been
dissuaded from involvement in the Campaign because of security pressures or at
least they have not expressed their concerns to me. I share news and info on
developments in the Campaign with the group I am responsible for. For example
when I shared the news about sentences issued in the case of Campaign activists,
like the sentence issued for
Delaram Ali, most wrote back expressing their support and concern and asked
what if anything they could do for us. Or when we shared news about
Esha's Momeni's release from prison, we received a lot of supportive
messages from volunteers.
What else do
you do in the Campaign?
I am also a member of the Media
Committee and am responsible for the
face-to-face section of our Farsi website, Change for Equality. This is one
of the most popular sections of the website. In this section, activists in the
Campaign write about their experience of engaging in face-to-face discussions
with ordinary citizens in an effort to collect signatures in support of the
Campaign's petition. The activists tell the story of ordinary citizens, the
story of ordinary women who have no platform for discussing their experiences
with discrimination and the impact of discriminatory laws on their lives.
Do you feel
that the Campaign has contributed to your empowerment as a woman and an
activist?
The Campaign has been an enormously
empowering experience for me. Prior to entering the Campaign, I had lost hope
and had become disillusioned. I felt like I needed to do something to positively
improve my society and to positively impact the lives of women in my country,
but I was constantly faced with closed doors to this end. I could not find a
place to go and be active on behalf of women's rights and my own concerns. When
the Campaign started it changed the environment of the women's movement and
younger women were afforded an opportunity to get involved. One huge point of
empowerment for all of the young people involved in the Campaign has been that
they have gained experience and confidence in approaching and connecting with
people they don't know. Now young activists feel empowered and confident enough
to approach anyone and to talk to anyone about their demands for equality of
women's rights and this is a huge step in empowerment. For example, when you are
sitting in a taxi or walking on the street, the fact that you are able to
connect with people, to gain their trust and to hear their life stories, is
truly amazing. The fact that you have gained the communication skills necessary
to connect with all sorts of people, whom you do not know and can gain their
trust, is truly empowering. The Campaign has also created a space where we are
constantly experiencing and learning how to engage in collaborative and
teamwork. The Campaign has provided me with the opportunity to learn and to test
and prove myself.
Tell us about
the concept of leadership in the Campaign. Has this issue posed a challenge in
the Campaign?
Fortunately we have always said that
there is no center or central leadership in the Campaign. Perhaps some people
because of their experience and their knowledge may be consulted more often by
lesser experienced activists, but the important thing is that there is no
hierarchy and everyone is viewed as equal. Anyone can do whatever they want in
the Campaign. Of course we have tried very hard to prevent a hierarchical system
in the Campaign. Whenever there was a group of people in the Campaign who we
felt were taking it upon themselves to make decisions for others, the space for
providing criticism has been open. This has required courage on the part of the
Campaign members especially the younger ones. To criticize older better known
feminists and to press for inclusion in decision making processes is a difficult
task, but has consistently happened in the Campaign. We have been able to work
toward and realize to a great degree an inclusive process where collaboration
and teamwork is facilitated. We have found older feminists involved in the
Campaign to be receptive to this criticism. This process of dialogue has for the
most part remained open in the Campaign. This has contributed to our personal
and collective growth.
So you think
that those activists involved in the Campaign, are working side by side, despite
and regardless of the level of their experience?
In our society relations are based
on a hierarchy of power. There are always people who have more power and you are
aware of their power, and there is a patriarchal nature to this hierarchy, where
men have the real power. The Campaign has a receptive, inclusive and feminist
system that allows for criticism and for equality within the structure of our
movement. There is no one sitting at the top claiming that they know everything,
ordering others on how things should be. As an activist in the Campaign you have
the right and the means to criticize anyone who does this, you can take them to
task, even write about them, and publicly announce your position and your
perspectives.
There have been
a lot of pressures on Campaign activists as a whole and on the members of the
Volunteers Committee in particular. Why do you remain active in the Campaign
given these pressures and risks?
I believe that these pressures have
worked to create unity and solidarity among the activists involved in the
Campaign. If you are involved in an effort to which you are committed, these
pressures will only strengthen your resolve to continue along your goals. They
cannot harm your commitment to what you are doing, unless of course you think
about your personal interests and withdraw. Certainly if someone is so concerned
with their own personal interests then they won't enter into a collective action
such as the Campaign in the first place. All the pressures that have been placed
on the Volunteers Committee have never been successful in stopping us from our
activities. For example security forces have repeatedly come to our homes to
break up our meetings, but this has not worked to dissuade us from holding
meetings. Perhaps if you are watching these developments from a distance you may
be fearful about joining the Campaign, but those who are involved in the
Campaign have maintained their commitment. I mean these pressures are to be
expected in our society. Whenever people try to bring about change they face
pressures-in all countries- this is not unique to our society. I think that
these pressures indicate that in fact our movement has been very effective. When
you have something of value to say and what you have to say has the power to
attract people and your impact is positive, this is when the pressures increase.
So for me, the pressures indicate that we are indeed involved in something
positive which is having impact.
Thanks Hoda for
your time.
Read some of
Hoda's articles which have been translated into English:
... Payvand News - 12/06/08 ... --
