On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

No to the ownership of woman’s body!

This year, November 25, the day of struggle against violence toward women, is coming in a situation where the outbreak of the Corona virus and the resulting crisis have highlighted the intensification of class society contradictions in various economic, social, political and ideological areas, and has exposed the system of oppression and exploitation more than before. The escalation of violence against women on a global scale in just a few months of this epidemic is one of the most stinking sewages that has been exposed by the operation of this system. A system in which misogyny and oppression of women is one of the foundations of its continuity.

This year, November 25, comes when the threatening shadow of the Corona virus prevails the world and continues to take its toll. But women, this half of the world's population, in addition to struggling with the harsh and deadly conditions created by this virus, must also fight the virus of patriarchy, which has been intensified during this period! The crisis that has gripped the world today has led to changes in people's lives, and in particular the family and the key role of women in it. Changes that lead to the growth and spread of violence against women. Compulsion in the close life of family members during long hours under one roof, poor economic situation, poverty, unemployment, anxiety about being infected with the virus, increasing excessive demand for sex by men, etc. can be considered as reasons for increasing violence against women. News of brutal violence against women in just a few months, a small portion of which reached the media and virtual networks, showed only the tip of the iceberg of oppression of women.

But the main question is what factors intensify and spread violence against women, in any crisis and today in the crisis caused by the Corona virus epidemic? It must be borne in mind that although violence against women has spread widely over this period of several months and has seriously endangered women's lives, this world, which has been and is dominated by patriarchal capitalist-imperialist rule, has always been a deadly place for women. Because one of the main and determining pillars for this system and in all class societies that are divided into the exploiter and the exploited- is the gender-based division of labor and the imposition of violence and inferiority on women, without which, it cannot progress. Just as it cannot work and move forward without the brutal exploitation of millions of workers and toilers, without imperialist and proxy wars, without looting the environment, without racism and national chauvinism, and so on. In fact, the vulnerability of women in any crisis, including the crisis of the Corona, lies in the nature of class societies and male ownership of women.

In a corner of this world, in countries like Afghanistan and Iran where the religion of Islam is integrated into the state, violence against women by these class governments, anti-woman laws based on Islamic Sharia law, and repressive forces for the control of women, has become more catastrophic in forms.

Let’s take a look at ‘honor killing’ in just one month, June:

- Somayeh Fathi, an 18-year-old woman who was murdered by her father and brother.

- A man stabbed his sister to death.

- Fatemeh Barhi, a 19-year-old woman, was stabbed to death by her husband and cousin.

- Romina Ashrafi, a 13-year-old girl, was killed with a sickle by her father.

- Reyhaneh Ameri, a 22-year-old woman, was killed with an ax by her father.

The names of dozens of women who were killed at this month and whose deaths and names never made it to the media is still empty on this list. But why were these women the victims of brutal anger of the men of the family and were killed? Their "crime" has been to challenge to some degree the patriarchal laws and culture, the "reputation" of the family, and the authority and ownership of men. At the same time, the most painful part is the complicity of some women with men who commit honor killings to protect the "honor and dignity" of the family!

In today's world and ruling class system where everything has become a commodity, women’s gender which is controlled by men has also become a commodity and is strengthened through the spread of patriarchal culture in the fabric of society. In this patriarchal system, both in countries where religious fundamentalists are in power and in countries that claim to be "modern", oppression of women is intertwined in their structure. Corona epidemic, has shown more than before that women share the same fate as much as the whole world system is privileging men to deepen their power relations as one of its foundations.

Shocking narratives of women of any groups and classes, nationality and color; about sexual harassment and rape that has become a pandemic, about murder of women in the name of "honor" or "love", about beating of women, feminization of death, feminization of poverty, etc., once again highlighted the undeniable fact that male ownership of the women’s bodies is an integral part of this class society. These facts form the basis of unity for all the women around the world in their common struggle against the roots of oppression and exploitation.

8 March Women’s Organization (Iran- Afghanistan)

17November 2020

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