March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day in many parts of the world. A day devoted to celebrating the achievements of women around the World including Iranian Women.
It’s an opportunity to acknowledge the strides and contributions Iranian women have made over the last four decades under the leadership of the Islamic government of Iran.
Contrary to reality, the western media's portrayal of Iranian women is vastly different from reality.
Their portrayal of Iranian women is that of a deprived, under-pressure woman who has no effective activity, while Iranian women have contributed greatly to scientific, health and environmental development as well as entrepreneurship.
The 1979 Islamic revolution provided Iranian women with a chance to build their distinct political identity and they have been tremendously successful in doing that.
Iranian women are today far more politically aware and enlightened than their counterparts in other Muslim societies.
Today, universities in Iran are flooded with women – confident, happy and self-assured. The Muslim-majority country’s literacy rate for women is among the best in the world.
Various studies have credited this success to the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, who called for the active participation of women, not only in politics but also in higher education and the public sector.
This is not the image Western media will show of Iran.
Historical evidence shows that women in Iran had no adequate political and social rights before the Islamic Revolution. Both politically and socially, they were in a closed and passive space. The school system before the revolution, westernised as it was, stopped many females from pursuing education.
However, the scenario changed after the Islamic Revolution as the percentage of females in universities rose considerably.
Despite the remarkable progress over time, the correct and realistic picture of this important issue has not been presented to the world.
When the West talks about women's rights in Iran, they refuse to accept that the Islamic Republic gave birth to the most skillful female experts in West Asia.
In the fields of medicine, science, technology, arts and cinema and sports; some of the best doctors, entrepreneurs, business managers, and the list is long but women are leading the way and the only thing holding them back is US unilateral sanctions against Iran.
In the last four decades, Iranian women have leapfrogged in the development of civil society, arts, sciences, championship sports and created inclusive excellence.
Iran is indebted to its zealous women who have made progress possible for the post-revolutionary Islamic Republic.
Their sacrifices within the family and society as a whole have proven their indispensable worthiness in a variety of capacities time and time again.
