Silent Voices

The universality and cross-cultural applicability of human rights has been vividly debated since the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Iran, as an Islamic Republic, stands as a chief opponent to the compatibility of Islamic values and human rights, particularly in the controversial area of women’s rights. Consequently, Iran is systematically depicted by Western media as a backwards country, hampered by its human rights violations. Whilst much research has been thus far devoted to the examination of Iran’s macro-level compliance to human rights standards, investigations of citizens’ perceptions on the matter appear to have been poorly documented. Accordingly, I here aimed to explore Iranian women’s lived experiences and perceptions of their rights. Iran afforded a compelling case study due to its particular historical and religious context. The country underwent tremendous changes over the course of the twentieth century, leading to the overthrow of the 2500-year monarchy and the instigation of an Islamic Republic in 1979. The research presented here was led by the research question How do Iranian women who experienced the 1979 Islamic Revolution, both those who stayed and those who migrated, perceive and rationalize changes in their rights in Iran following the installation of an Islamic Republic? Research here relied on the testimonies of twelve Iranian women. The human rights frame is deeply embedded in women’s testimonies. Although not all refer specifically to human rights, their words and thoughts on the matter reveal that human rights principles have been internalised by all women. Therefore, I would argue that human rights are not culturally specific, but rather that ‘human rights have become culture’. Since the inception of the UDHR in 1948, Iran has not been able to remove the frame of human rights from public discourses. Women, regardless of their religious background, argue that human rights and culture are separate matters. Therefore, I conclude that human rights are the best solution so far in order to tackle the potential dangers of ‘modern nation-state, market economies, and industrialisation’.