International Women’s Day: Fighting for women's rights and freedom of expression

Meryem Sultan, Hêlan Çiya and Atefe Asadi speak about International Women’s Day, the role of women in the advancing free expression, and freedom of expression’s importance in achieving gender equality in their countries of origin, in their Cities of Refuge, and globally.

Meryem Sultan is a writer, translator, and activist from East Turkestan. She is the current ICORN resident in Lillehammer City of Refuge.

Today, we are still talking about women’s rights as their violations are one of the most fundamental and biggest problems in achieving human rights for all. The most basic rule of human rights is that every individual should be able to defend their own rights. In this regard, we need to be able to hear women’s own voices and face the facts that women are exposed to inequality all over the world because of their identity and their most basic human rights are taken away.

In the capitalist system where men are dominant and women are objectified, there have been attempts to superficialize International Women’s Day, to simplify it, and turn it into a shopping spree, or a gift-giving day. Although campaigns led by big brands and the crowd following them have influenced social norms, there are always those who try to swim against the current. These are the people who talk about women’s rights on International Women’s Day. Knowing that we are not alone gives us strength.

If a woman goes to a luxury store on 8 March and buys a product created by the low-paid or even forced labour of women detained in concentration camps, and she does not care about these facts, this is not only a problem for women, but all of us.

Whether it is social pressure or pressure from political regimes, women are always the victims of violence because of their identity. I am speaking here as a Uyghur woman, a woman who has witnessed many women being forced to have abortions by the Chinese communist regime, a woman whose brother who was forcibly taken from her mother’s womb, and a woman who was forced to work in the cotton fields by the Chinese government.

The Chinese regime uses women as tools of genocide. Although the systematic forced abortion and sterilisation of Uyghur women has attracted international attention thanks to human rights and media organisations, the situation has not changed.

We live in an age of artificial intelligence, yet my mother, a woman and a mother, lives in East Turkestan, which has turned into an open prison, unable to communicate with me by voice or video call. Although she may not have the chance to read these lines, I would like to congratulate her and all women on International Women’s Day.

Until there is no woman whose rights are trampled on, nobody should have a ‘Happy International Women’s Day’. Let’s not forget that 8 March is a rights advocacy day, not a shopping day. Let’s not let empty noise drown out women’s screams.

Hêlan Çiya is a writer, journalist, and women’s rights activist from Iraqi Kurdistan. She is the current ICORN resident in Malmö.

Freedom of expression is one of the most important rights which ensure that a society provides the individual with the opportunity to organise their life, make conscious choices, and ensure their happiness. Women’s voices, on the other hand, are suppressed, controlled, and explicitly punished by laws, policies, and discriminatory practices while being implicitly controlled by social attitudes, cultural norms, and patriarchal values.

There can be no trade-off between women’s freedom and the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Both are equally important freedoms.

Women must strengthen their role in three ways. We need to know and be aware of the progress and challenges. We need to take responsibility and have agency. We need to become decision makers and take the lead in order to be independent and empowered.

Gender justice requires not only an end to the unlawful interference with women’s freedom of thought and expression. It also requires the creation of an enabling environment where women can exercise their agency, and participate safely, fully, and equally in political, cultural, social, and economic life.’

Atefe Asadi is a writer, editor, and translator from Iran. She is the current ICORN resident in Hannover through the Hannah Arendt Scholarship.

Women are half of the world’s population, and an equal part of humanity which has been suppressed and silenced for years, deprived of positions of power. Not hearing these voices means losing half of society’s power and this problem is intensified in countries like mine, Iran, which have a dictatorial regime. A law liming a woman’s testimony in court to half that of a man’s and censors her from numerous public and private arenas. As a result, when women gather to protest, movements based on the re-emergence of society’s excluded part, such as Woman, Life, Freedom, are created.

We cannot claim to have free speech while restricting it to a specific segment of society. In some societies, women have no access to basic rights and society silences their voices. A woman in Iran does not have the right to be a judge, to be president, to go to a football stadium, to divorce, to travel alone, or to marry without her father’s approval. She is deprived of social rights and positions, and her voice is being stifled by the patriarchal dictatorship. If we deprive women of their rights and banish them inside the house, we deprive society of free expression.

Women’s presence should be seen and heard. Many women in countries such as Iran and Afghanistan are active despite the harassment, while their contributions are not recognized as they should be. Supporting these women encourages other women to join the fight against inequality. Providing platforms for such activities is also important. Many women want to be part of the first, yet the are no or insufficient platforms available. We must establish conditions in which they can operate, such as specialist periodicals, networks, websites, NGOs, artistic and social prizes. All of these can focus on the activities of women, particularly in patriarchal societies.

We also need to bring men with us. Change in traditional societies cannot occur without the engagement and presence of men. One of the reasons why the women of today have been able to obtain awareness and some rights in the face of discriminatory legislation and gender apartheid is because men have also been aware and have participated in this societal change. Men will support these movements if they understand how equal rights and freedom of expression for women benefits society for all, including for men themselves. Our campaign for equality should target people of all genders, sexes, and walks of life, not only men.

Please visit the ICORN resident profiles of Hêlan Çiya, Atefe Asadi, and Meryem Sultan for more information on their work.

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