One Million Signatures

One Million Signatures for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws (Persian: يک ميليون امضا برای لغو قوانين تبعيض آميز Yek Milyun Emzā barā-ye Laghv-e Qavānin-e Tab‘iz Āmiz), also known as Change for Equality, is a campaign by women in Iran to collect one million signatures in support of changing discriminatory laws against women in their country.

Activists of the movement have been attacked and jailed by the government, and the campaign has had to extend its two-year target to collect the full number of signatures.

The campaign has received wide international recognition. Prominent journalistic, human rights and pro-democracy organizations have awarded important prizes, to both the organization and some of its members.

Iranian women's rights activists in Iran started the Campaign, to follow up a peaceful protest with the same aim in 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran. Preparation started immediately in June, and the campaign was officially launched on August 28, at a seminar entitled The Impact of Laws on Women’s Lives.

As well as collecting a million signatures to support reform of the law, the Campaign, in its own words, also aims to achieve the following:

The campaign seeks to secure equal rights in marriage and inheritance, an end to polygamy, and stricter punishments for honour killings and other forms of violence.

The organizers of the campaign consider that its demands conform to Islamic principles, and are in line with Iran’s international commitments. As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Iran has committed to eliminate all forms of discrimination, and needs to take specific action in reforming laws that promote discrimination. These demands are in no way contradictory to the foundations of Islam, and have been discussed among Islamic jurists and scholars for some time.

The organizers hope that a million-signature petition will demonstrate, to decision-makers and the general public, that the desire to change discriminatory laws against women is not limited to a small segment of society, but widespread among diverse parts of the Iranian population.

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Wikipedia