Excerpts from editorial Publication 8 mars journal No. 39

We should not tolerate a world full of violence against women!

In a world dominated by patriarchal capitalist system, different forms of oppression against women are justified. Honor killing in the developed capitalist countries is justified under the name of cultural relativity and in the ‘third world’ under the name of protecting honor and dignity of the family. Violence against one billion women is going unnoticed under the pretext of “private” and family’s affair. The Medias are silent when it comes to trading millions of women and children who are kidnapped, tricked or deceived into the sex slave markets. Violence, humiliation, insult, rape and gang rape on women through pornography are presented as freedom of speech, or freeing women from the chain of traditions. Imprisoning women in veil, Burqa and Islamic dress or mass “circumcision” or in fact, female genital mutilating are portrayed as the culture of these societies… all these violences stem from dominated capitalist system in a world scale which rules all the people and the women.

Capitalism needs to protect and promote women subjugation to sustain its exploitive and oppressive system. Reproduction and supplying labor force has a decisive role in ensuring the continuity and functioning of the capitalist system and extracting the maximum profit. In order to ensure such a crucial need, capitalism protects and continues the gender division of labor and imposes the violence and subjugation of women. 

It should be noted that this comprehensive misogynist culture in either “modern” or “third world” countries, stems from universally dominated economic-political-social relations. This culture has risen from a particular social relation, which is the power relation between men and women, and serves the production relation. We must emphasize that violence against women is a reflection of power relations between oppressors and oppressed, between exploiters and exploited. All these relations are produced and reproduced by the world misogynist ruling classes.

In Iran, the extension of violence against women takes vaster dimensions every day. Due to the development of capitalism, the need and necessity of women coming out of the “enclose” (called ‘‘house’’), and contributing to social activities has become a big hassle for the Islamic anti-women ruling class in Iran; because the presence and development of women activities in the society hits against primitive, traditional and backward forms of oppression against woman. Islamic regime has solved this contradiction in the most brutal, reactionary and misogynist forms, in favor of traditions and religious teachings; and in this way, has forced its domination over the society as much as possible.

Man in the position of owner sees the woman as a sexual commodity which he can buy, sell or control her “virginity”. He is allowed to drag her into non-existence in their ‘‘common’’ life by beating, insulting and humiliating her. He is allowed to offer her to any man he chose at her childhood. He is allowed to cut her head to sustain “reputation” of the family. He is allowed to force her into prostitution, sexually harass her anytime and anywhere, humiliate her at the presence of others, kill her for asking for divorce, force her into sexual relation, extremely exploit her just because she is a woman and … . These domestic and social violences are being fueled and strengthened by patriarchal culture, backward traditions, anti-woman ideology as well as a set of misogynist governing rules and policies.

Depth and extension of violence against women in a society where half of population is controlled by the other half, is a reflection of patriarchal relations which is directly related to the dominant production relations in the society. The violence and atrocity of men against women is not due to their nature, but this is universally dominated capitalist system that teaches millions of men since their childhood and normalizes these acts of humiliation, torture, harassment and violence against women for them to practice in their lives. It is this system that teaches little girls that their value is to please and to be accepted by men, and that women should accept men’s violence and harassment as part of their life.

Violence against women will not be eliminated by liberal and reformist measures, as they will not uproot the inferiority of woman. The vast and deepening violence against women in Iran, middle east and the entire world which are imposed by religious fundamentalists, variety of reactionary forces, states and all the imperialist capitalist powers, expose this undeniable truth for all revolutionary progressive women more than ever, as to why there is an urgent need to get rid of this oppressive and exploiting system.

Today, more than anytime, the necessity of transforming women, mobilizing and organizing them in vast numbers along with other exploited and oppressed people is in front of all of us as fighter, conscious and revolutionary women and forces. It is necessary to contribute to build and strengthen a revolutionary movement in order to overthrow the Islamic regime of Iran as the main operator and cause of violence against women

It is time to put an end to all these violences against women. It is time for women to become vanguard of a revolution that not only throw this misogynist Islamic regime in the dustbin of history but also forge a relentless and decisive struggle along with our co-fates in order to rip off the oppressive and exploitative chains of patriarchal imperialist system. In this way we can help to build a world without violence against women. Yes, building a world without violence is possible.

8 march Women organisation (Iran-Afghanistan)

November 2016

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