By Helen G | 28 October 2008, 21:33

Women in Iran face widespread discrimination under law. Evidence given by a woman in court is considered only worth half that given by a man. A girl under the age of 13 can be forced to marry a much older man if her father permits it. They do not have equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.

Human Rights Watch is pointing out the Iranian government’s escalating number of attacks against women activists, subjecting them to arbitrary detention, travel bans, and harassment. The organisation said the Judiciary has prosecuted more than 100 women’s rights activists over the past three years and continues to detain, intimidate, and prohibit from traveling a number of other women’s rights activists, particularly those involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality which aims to raise awareness of Iranian laws that sanction discrimination against women, by collecting 1 million signatures in an effort to repeal the laws.

And, according to this report by Change For Equality:

Early this morning on October 26, 2008, security officials at Imam Khomeini Airport confiscated the passport of Sussan Tahmasebi, women’s rights defender and member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, preventing her from travel. Following Tahmasebi’s return to her house at 10:00am, she was faced with 5 security agents at her door, who presented her with a court order to search her home. The security officials, while filming the home, seized a number of CDs, books, writings, texts addressing peacebuilding, cassette tapes and a Laptop. The security officials also presented a summons to Tahmasebi, which requires that she present herself to Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts within three days. The summons was issued over a month ago.

Click here to sign the online One Million Signatures petition.

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Related links:

• One Million Signatures Campaign (Change for Equality)
• Amnesty International UK: Support Iranian women’s rights defenders
• Protect The Human: Iranian Women
• And the 1 Million Signatures Campaign for Equality in Iran Facebook group is here