This year’s celebrations of March 8th International Women’s Day coincide with the waves of revolutionary and mass struggles that have unfurled over the Middle East and North Africa. The spreading mass uprisings, after toppling two dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, have taken on the other dictatorships of the old continent and are advancing to overthrow these dictator regimes as well. People’s uprisings in this region once again proved the neoliberal plans of free-market democracy to be a failure and showed that the structural reform plans dictated by the International financial institutions for the countries of this region have been executed through the most brutal dictatorships. Implementation of neoliberal economic policies coupled with increased political tyranny and social injustice and driving millions of people below the line of poverty were the real reasons behind these revolutionary uprisings. Women and especially the working and toiling women as the main victims of the economic austerity policies and victims of legal, political and social inequalities, played a strong role in these revolutionary developments in these societies.

The women’s movement in Iran during the recent decades has shown significant roles in the political developments and in the struggles against the misogyny of the Islamic Republic. In the light of the current developments and by relying on the past experiences and learning from the experiences of the recent revolutions and riots by the deprived people of the region, the movement can advance with more strength and more confidence.

Whether in the street protests, in the labor struggles, among the militant and equality-seeking students, or along with the mothers of the political prisoners and the mothers of those killed by the regime as well as in the revolutionary movement of Kurdistan, women in Iran have been always facing brutal crackdown by the regime. The women’s emancipation movement has no other way ahead than relying on the enormous forces of the working and toiling women and adopting a revolutionary form for its struggles. The experiences of the past three decades under the Islamic rule and the new experiences from the recent revolutions in the countries of the region indicate that it is not more than an illusion to think that women’s demands and expectations could be met within the limits of the Islamic constitution and by reforms within the regime or by adopting soft and velvet revolutions as are claimed by the liberal feminism and bourgeois liberalism in Iran.

Currently due to the fact that the majority of the oppressed women in Iran are from the working and toiling class and because the demand for regime overthrow has become a common demand by the majority of the Iranian people and as we have witnessed the strategy of the liberal trends for meeting women’s demands through change within the regime reaching a deadlock, the material grounds for advancing with a socialist alternative is set for the women’s movement more than any other time in the past.

In order to advance and involve millions of Iranian working and toiling women in the struggles, it is important to lay stress on women’s demands and welfare needs as well as the vital significance of women’s economic independence. The socialist activists in the Iranian women’s movement must focus their activities on these huge masses of working and toiling women. They should show these women that the gender inequalities in the society and in the family are linked to the production relations governing the society and that providing the material and economic grounds for women’s true emancipation and gender equality on all bases requires direct attack on the private property and the overthrow of capitalism.

It is for this reason that the Iranian bourgeois liberalism and other bourgeois opposition parties and forces that cherish private property and favor the existing productions systems are not even capable of realizing the legal equalities that they articulate here and there in their programs and platforms. It is these material realities of the capitalist system that drive the women’s movement to unite with the workers’ movement, which due to the nature of its demands has no other way but to attack the capitalist system and wrap up all its rotten and cruel relations. In unity and cohesion with the workers’ movement, women’s movement can realize its demands and eradicate the roots of gender-based inequality and oppression on women.

With the deepening economic crisis, the increasing poverty and unemployment that is pressing the working and poor layers of the Iranian society, the continuing political crisis and people’s common demand for regime change, women’s movement also should not stay in the shadow of reformists. They should lead their own campaigns for the overthrow of the regime and show their strong presence in the struggles against the Islamic Republic independent of government reformers. Women must appear with their own clear demands for freedom, equality and welfare in the street protests and during the rallies and actions of the 8th of March.

As the overthrow of Shah’s regime during the 1979 revolution and end of Hossni Mobarak’s regime following the recent revolution in Egypt was not alone enough for the revolution to achieve its goals, the mere slogans of ‘Down with Dictator’ and ‘Down with Khamenei’ are not alone enough either to win a revolution and make people stop at that. The overthrow of a regime makes only half of the mission. A revolution must be continued until the realization of people’s demands such as unconditional political liberties, complete equality of men and women in all areas of political, social and family life, providing the working class demands, separation of religion and state, ending injustice and repression against the Kurdish people and recognizing the right of nations to determine their destiny. This approach can ensure that the opportunists and hypocrites will not be able to steal the revolution and change its direction the way they want.

During the past three decades the celebrations and actions of the 8th of March International Women’s Day have been strong demonstrations of Iranian women’s protests against the misogyny and dictatorship of the Islamic Republic. The liberal trends have been to drag the women behind the Green Movement of the government reformers. In this situation, raising the human and freedom-seeking demands of the women on this year’s 8th of March will be a strong answer to the anti-women policies and actions of both conservative and reformist wings of the regime. The government reformists have repeatedly stated that the women’s rights and liberties are only legitimate within the limits of the Islamic laws. They have openly shown their hostile towards and disapproval of women’s human and just demands.

The communist activists and militant women who during the past one and half year have had an active and strong role in the street protests against the Iranian regime, now with the new rounds of mass protests, need to honor the 8th of March through glorious celebrations and strong demonstrations in the heart of the Iranian cities. It is essential that leaders and activists of radical and socialist women's movement and labor movement, despite their differences, go hand in hand and work together in order to have victorious celebrations and actions on the 8th of March.

Long Live the 8th of March International Women’s Day
Down With the Islamic Republic
Long Live Freedom, Equality and Workers’ Government
Long Live Socialism

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Iran
March 2011