British MP Anna Firth addressed the meeting at the United Kingdom’s Parliament held on September 12 in support of the Iranian people’s uprising, highlighting a statement signed by over a thousand prominent women from various countries.
MP Anna Firth also expressed her deep concern over the lack of basic freedoms for women in Iran, such as the right to choose their clothing, and stressed the need to continue advocating for the rights of Iranian women until they enjoy the same freedoms as in the West. She concluded by reaffirming the united goal of supporting a democratic state and achieving gender equality in Iran.
The text of MP Anna Firth’s speech follows:
Well, thank you very much indeed, lords, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a huge, huge pleasure to be here again and to support this very, very vital cause and this vital meeting at this time, just as we approach the first year anniversary of the most recent uprising in Iran.
And it’s my great pleasure to read to you a statement which has been signed by a thousand prominent women as we approach the eve of the people’s uprising. It speaks volumes that over a thousand prominent women from five countries, five continents, and 67 countries have issued a joint statement expressing their support and emphasizing the courageous women of Iran and their pivotal role in this uprising.
Among the signatories here, we have 50 current and former presidents, vice presidents, prime ministers, and ministers, as well as 175 parliamentarians, Nobel Prize laureates, artists, and athletes.
In this historic statement, these figures declare their endorsement for the Ten-Point Plan outlined by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance for freedom, equality, and a democratic Republic.
This is the only program that champions the complete equality of women and men across all sectors in Iran. The signatories express their solidarity with the 3,600 parliamentarians and 125 former presidents who’ve supported the National Council of Resistance and its Ten-Point Plan.
They’ve affirmed their commitment to ensuring full gender equality, including what we all think is entirely uncontroversial in the West, the right for women to freely choose their clothing.
.@Anna_Firth: "It's my great pleasure to read a statement which has been signed by 1000 prominent #women as we approach the eve of the #Iranian people's uprising."https://t.co/2oYnv4J6av
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 12, 2023
As I’ve said on many occasions, as the mother of two young women, it is horrifying to me that the way they dress might lead to them being in prison, to them being tortured, and to their democratic rights being taken away. And I count, in some ways, we’re very lucky about the freedoms we have here in the West, but those freedoms have been hard won over thousands of years.
But nonetheless, we have them. And I can stand up in the House of Commons, as I do whenever I can, to champion the rights of women in Iran and to shine a spotlight on the atrocities and the atrocious murders and cruelty that’s going on. And I can do that without fearing for my life, something which women in Iran cannot do and we must continue the fight until the day comes when they have the same rights in Iran as we do here in the UK.
I think that on that note, actually, I think that is the most powerful thing that we can do. I pay tribute once again to everybody here who’s organized this important meeting. And I invite anybody who wants to come and just read and see the names of all these women from all around the world.
We are all united against this atrocious regime. We all have one common goal, and that is to see a democratic regime and to see equality for women in what is a great country of Iran.
Thank you.
