A Call to Observe "Women's Liberation Day"
SMCCDI (Public Statement)
Jan 5, 2003

The seventh of January 1936 (17th of Dey 1314) is the day that the old wish of Iran's modernists and Free-thinkers came true and the freedom-loving women of Iran were released from the proverbial chain of the enforced veil (hejab). From that historic day on, Iranian women were able to attain many of their human rights and citizen rights by being actively present in the various social, economic, and political arenas alongside Iranian men-- rights that were suppressed and violated under [the excuse of] religious bonds and restrictions.

With the establishment of the fundamentalist theocracy in Iran, the mullahs with obvious enmity and by establishing 'anti-women' laws and regulations, in the name of religion, trampled many of the women's obtained rights, and [still] diligently pursue the return to the retarded and fundamentalist conditions of a hundred years ago. During the [near] 24 shameful years of the Islamic Republic's lifespan, we have witnessed many times that the rulers of despotism, with various excuses, including the pretext of confronting the bad 'hejab'-- the Islamic dress code for women-- have sent their goons and agents of "vice" to the streets to harass and persecute our mothers and sisters. We have witnessed how they arrest and humiliate young girls and boys for being together in public places such as parks and mountain hiking trails. We [continuously] witness how the legal rights of women are trampled in the religious courtrooms of Iran and how against the patriarchal laws of the mullahs women have no choice but to endure the oppression. Alongside all these injustices against women we should add the pain of hunger and extreme poverty: the pain that has condemned them to selling their bodies and their children to living on the streets.

Noble and honorable people of Iran:

Despite the executions, stonings, suppressions, humiliations, and various injustices against the Iranian women, the noble women of Iran and-- especially-- the educated women, from the very beginning, have risen to struggle against the many discriminations and restrictions, and above all, against the 'enforced hejab,' which has forced the government to accept obvious setbacks. In order to end the sexual discriminations and multiple injustices against our mothers and sisters, to support the continued struggle of the noble Iranian women and men against the backward laws and regulations of the religious fundamentalists, and to honor the Iranian Women's Liberation Day, on Tuesday, January seventh [17th of Dey] at 2:00 PM, we will gather together in all the main public sites of our cities and with our cries of "No to the Veil, No to Persecution" we will demand the freedom of all the political prisoners and the observance of a referendum for establishing a democratic secular government.

Furthermore; on this day, as the pioneers of the civil disobedience movement, we invite all the free-thinking Iranian women to toss one of their half-burned headscarves in the heavily populated streets or squares [of all the cities] as a sign of protest to the enforced veil.

Long Live Freedom!
Established be Secularism!

January 5, 2003 (15th of Dey 1381)

The "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran" (SMCCDI)

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