June 15, 2006

Dear Friends,

We just received an update from a colleague in Iran. Please click here to read what she has to say. Personal information has been removed for her protection.

Thank you to all who have sent messages of support. We are forwarding these to our colleagues to encourage and support them during difficult times. For those of you who wish to send a message, please go to our Message of Solidarity page.

Thank you for your continued support.

Best regards,
Women's Learning Partnership

June 13, 2006

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We have received disturbing news from Iran. Police and security agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran violently suppressed the peaceful demonstration for women's rights held yesterday in Tehran.

Organizations in Iran called for a protest march on June 12 to demand an end to legal discrimination against women (See WLP's earlier alert.)  Peaceful demonstrators, women and men, congregated in Haft'eh Teer Square, carrying placards protesting discrimination against women and chanting in support of women's, children's, and human rights.

Many demonstrators were beaten and injured by the police. 70 demonstrators were arrested, according to the Ministry of Justice, but some eyewitness accounts put the number much higher. Among those arrested are leading women's rights and children's rights activists, journalists, and leaders of student associations. The houses of a number of activists have been raided and vandalized. (See more pictures from the demonstration.)

We are concerned for those who have been injured and arrested, and for the well-being of our colleagues who organized and participated in the protest march.

Please join us in calling for the release of all demonstrators and sending messages of solidarity to Iranian women's rights activists.

Best regards,
Women's Learning Partnership

Support Iranian Women's Demonstration on June 12 to Demand an End to Legal Discrimination

June 7, 2006 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We have received information from colleagues in Iran of a demonstration they plan to hold next Monday, June 12, 2006 to demand an end to legal discrimination against women. They are seeking support for changes to the civil and penal laws as follows:

• Banning polygamy;
• Reversal of men's uncontested right to divorce;
• Equal child custody rights for mothers and fathers;
• Equal rights in marriage (such as a woman's right to choose where she works, to travel freely, etc.);
• Increase in the legal age of children to 18 years of age (currently girls are viewed as adults at 9 years of age and boys at 15 years of age, making them eligible to be tried as adults);
• Equal value placed on women's testimony in court; and
• Elimination of temporary work contracts which disproportionately and negatively impact women.

Please join us in supporting Iranian women and their ongoing struggle to gain equal rights.

ACTION:

Sign on at http://herlandmag.com/news/06,06,07,12,33,14/.

Best regards,
Women's Learning Partnership
www.learningpartnership.org