#Trending : This Woman Hosts Podcasts In Iran To Help Victims Of Domestic Abuse Seek Counselling. This Is Their Only Outlet
Studies, reports and a lot of personal accounts of victims shared with the world, all show that one of the main and prime reasons for domestic abuse victims to stay quiet and endure it for so long is because they either fear the consequences for themselves, or because the culture of women being subject to such violence has been normalized to the point where they tend to believe it is okay to be treated like that. And as much as we’d like to advocate otherwise, the truth of the matter is, that such violence is indeed normalised in a lot of countries, especially when we talk about Iran.
One of the countries in the Middle east that consistently ranks low when it comes to women rights and safety, Iran has a notorious reputation for being horrible in the way it treats its women. From cases of honour killings, to abuse, the women are far from being given the rights that the men enjoy and while the stigma claims lots of innocent lives every day, a few courageous women are driven to change the ways of the culture.
Speaking of one such woman, Maryam (a pseudo name), who has been a victim to domestic abuse, but now likes to be recognised as a survivor, helps other women speak their truths, through her podcasts. Sharing her own story where even though she married out of choice but was brutally harassed and abused by the hands of her husband, Maryam now urges fellow women in Iran to step up and share their own accounts of domestic horror.
An official statistic in #islamic Iran found (16yrs ago) that two-thirds of Iranian women had experienced domestic abuse at least once. – Amnesty International: Iran's women face discrimination in law, marriage, divorce, inheritance, child custody, nationality and travel.
— Christin Adree (@Christin_Adree) August 4, 2020
Also Read : In A Shocking Case Of Honour Killing, A Man In Iran Beheaded His Daughter. He Did This After He Consulted A Lawyer About The Punishment.
Maryam claims that initially it was her “pride and a reluctance to admit defeat” that kept her from reaching out for help, because the way she had been raised, she was always told that, “A woman enters a man’s house in a white bridal dress and leaves only in a white shroud.” However, it was after she ended up in a hospital bed, beaten up that she asked herself, “Why am I here and why has this happened to me?” that she made up her mind to leave.
There is systemic lack of protection for women suffering violence in Iran.
The only official statistics ever commissioned on the subject was 16 years ago, which found two-thirds of Iranian women had experienced domestic abuse at least once.#SexNotGenderhttps://t.co/IxHlKhuP2m— Genevieve Gluck (@WomenReadWomen) August 4, 2020
It was with the help of her supportive family that she managed to weasel her way out of that traumatic relationship, and in a spirit to do just the same for fellow women, who endure such hurt and injustice everyday, she hosts such podcasts, unveiling a new story of such domestic abuse, in the hope that it would urge the government to help the women out with equal rights.
Hoping this might be the catalyst one needs to fast forward the bill for providing protection to women against violence, women like Maryam are trying to do all they can in their power. From providing counselling to podcasting, she is doing her bit and we hope that the Iranian government too does its bit, by criminalising violence against women and assigning punishment for harassment and assault in public and social media.
