{"id":4804,"date":"2023-03-09T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opendoorsuk.org\/?p=4804"},"modified":"2024-02-13T15:30:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T15:30:36","slug":"iran-parliament-women","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/wwl.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/blog\/news\/latest-news\/iran-parliament-women\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s life like for Iranian Christian women? Dabrina shares with the UK Government"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Earlier this week to mark International Women\u2019s Day, Dabrina shared with politicians her story of persecution in Iran. She was one of several contributors urging the UK Government to do more to bring the Iranian regime to account for violations of human rights and religious freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The panel (L-R): Henrietta Blyth, Taiwo Owatemi MP, Dabrina and\u00a0Fleur Anderson MP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After being involved in two separate car accidents in Iran, Dabrina received a phone call. It was the intelligence services telling her that the next accident wouldn\u2019t be as harmless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wasn\u2019t an isolated incident. \u201cGrowing up as a Christian, I got used to persecution,\u201d she told a parliamentary panel discussion titled \u2018Iran: Oppressing religious freedom and human rights\u2019 on Tuesday (7 March). It was held to mark International Women\u2019s Day and aimed at highlighting the violation of human rights, including gender-specific religious persecution, in Iran and other countries on the World Watch List. Thank you to everyone who invited their MP and spread the news of this event.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“I have experienced pastors and church leaders being murdered”\r\n<\/p> DABRINA<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have experienced pastors and church leaders being murdered,\u201d said Dabrina, who has since fled the country with her family after they were sentenced to imprisonment for their Christian activities. \u201cI got used to the fact that my father didn\u2019t show up, didn\u2019t come home. I got used to waiting for him the whole night thinking is he dead or alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stopped on the street aged seven<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last year, protests broke out in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini whilst in custody for \u2018improper\u2019 wearing of the hijab. The incident \u2013 and the crackdown on protestors that\u2019s followed, including the killing of nearly 500 people \u2013 has exposed the intolerance and brutality of the Iranian regime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dabrina first encountered the morality police aged seven. \u201cWalking down the street with my mum, I was told that I needed to be wearing a scarf,\u201d she told the panel. \u201cHe insisted that I was tall and looked older and therefore would lead men to temptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was an assault to my freedom as a woman, but also it made me behave in accordance with a religious perspective that was not mine,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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EVERY \u00a319<\/div>\r\n\r\n
could help a woman or girl receive trauma care so she can heal and realise her God-given identity and worth.\r\n<\/div>\r\n MY GIFT TODAY<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n

The intrusion and surveillance were unremitting. \u201cI got used to the morality police sending an intelligence officer to follow me everywhere I went,\u201d said Dabrina, who was even expelled from university for her faith. \u201cI got used to being called into their offices, hotels, other secret places twice a week, on Tuesday and Sunday, for interrogation.\u201d She was kept in an all-male detention centre without one female officer present.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brutal behaviour normalised in Iran<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the past few months, girls in various Iranian schools have been poisoned. Referring to this shocking story, Dabrina explained that the regime has long been unaccountable, and so their inhumane treatment of people has become normalised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe truth is that this government has done so many brutal things for so long, and they have gotten away with it,\u201d she told the panel. \u201cNow they have made it their signature to attack, to rape and to kill their people. They have got away with inhumane action for so many years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dabrina highlighted that Iran are signatories of Article 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Political and Civil Rights. \u201cBoth compel Iran to provide full religious freedom for all its citizens, including changing your faith and sharing your faith with others,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n