A March 8 with the "revolutionary approach" that Iranian women are about to experience.
A day that is "an opportunity to reaffirm their desire for self-determination and freedom".
Says Parisa Nazari, Iranian intercultural activist and mediator, translator, who has lived in Italy for several years and where she promotes cultural initiatives based on literature and poetry (so much so that she defines herself as a "cultural activist") as well as making known the condition and the protest of his compatriots.
International Women's Day 2023 will also be celebrated in Iran - Nazari tells ANSA - "as indeed every year, as is the case all over the world. Usually, despite censorship, cultural rather than party-style initiatives are organized" .
"I'm not sure what initiatives are scheduled for tomorrow but I'm sure that women won't stay at home. This year is special, it will be a March 8 with a revolutionary approach" in the wake of the protests of the "Donna Vita Libertà" movement which sees women, and for the first time also young men, in a powerful mobilization against the regime.
Nazari recalls March 8, 1979, a few days after the Islamic revolution of the previous February which introduced the obligation to wear the veil (initially only in public offices then extended everywhere): on that occasion too women took to the streets, demonstrated against this abuse and shouted slogans in support of their rights, "not to go back".
In this 2023, in her opinion, there is news: "Iranian civil society has changed. Since women were alone, their rights were not a priority, there are still misogynistic laws that have created discrimination, now there are changes. In these years, men and women have understood, there is more awareness of the fact that the role of women is essential to achieve democracy".
No fear therefore for the arrests that took place on 8 March, "this year will be different. It is a particular period. We are in the midst of the revolution. The initiatives scheduled for tomorrow will not please the regime, they will try to block them. I hope this will not happen but the women will go on".
After all "
lately - continues Nazari - it is really difficult to control women because there are so many who protest.
Never like in these days there are women who don't wear the veil on the street and are left to do it.
Certainly not for greater tolerance but because it is not possible to stop them all". However "I'm not sure that this is a prelude to a victory for Iranian women's rights.
It's just a stage.
The veil obligation will not be abolished;
the veil allows the regime to make women modest, invisible, to control their bodies.
So I don't think we are in a phase where we can destroy the apparatus of these 40 years". So there is no greater tolerance, "there have recently been episodes of demonstrators hit in the eyes by rubber bullets and they were blinded" , there is only one logistical difficulty of blocking them all.
Culture has contributed to the changes in Iranian society and women have been the driving force: "Education has allowed the revolution to take place. Iranian women have understood how important the role of education is, especially university education. So much so that the number of Iranian female graduates is higher than that of men. And the men who are now close to women in this battle for freedom and rights are the children of aware women who have invested in culture. This fight will not stop".