Roja Bandari, Iranian Feminist Activist, Visits the FMF

The Feminist Majority Foundation had the opportunity to meet and speak with Roja Bandari from the One Million Signatures campaign for lunch on Tuesday afternoon. It was an immense pleasure to hear her perspective on the recent Iranian protests and to gain a greater understanding of the women’s rights movement in Tehran.

A recent speaker at the Global Day of Action for Iran on July 25th at UCLA, Roja herself is an admirable feminist. After moving to the United States nine years ago, she powerfully and effectively has become a woman with a clear agenda, one that seeks to bring liberty to her Iranian counterparts. Roja, with great respect and passion, is challenging the barriers that exist for Iranian women by utilizing and communicating with Iranian citizens living in Los Angeles.

At the meeting, Roja discussed how important it is for the world to recognize the solidarity and courage the women’s rights leaders of Iran hold. In particular, The One Million Signatures campaign seeks to appeal to the Iranian government to revise certain laws that prohibit and restrict women’s rights. This unique and transparent face-to-face campaign allows Iranian feminists (both in Iran and all over the world) to discuss gender inequalities that exist in their country and their quest to change these discriminations.

Unfortunately, the battle for equality in Iran is truly a vicious struggle for Roja and other Iranian feminists. In October 2008, Roja’s friend, Esha Momeni, was arrested and detained in Iran. A journalism student at California State University at Northridge, Esha traveled to Iran to collect primary source material for her thesis on the Iranian women's rights movement. While there, she also became a volunteer for the One Million Signatures campaign.

On October 15, 2008 Esha was pulled over by undercover security forces and taken to a high-security prison. She was held in solitary confinement for over a month and her historical footage of the revolutionary women’s movement was stripped from her. Thankfully, Esha was released on bail in November 2008, but she was not allowed to leave Iran until a few days ago. From our lunch meeting, Roja went straight from the FMF office to meet Esha at LAX, a reunion that has been long overdue.

While Esha’s return is cause for great celebration, countless women and men still remain in prison for expressing their desire to change a discriminatory system. Roja’s courage, alongside all other Iranian feminist activists like Esha, continues to inspire us and remind us that feminism transcends the invisible boundaries of the world. The struggle to obtain women’s rights in Iran is our struggle too. We support these activists and stand in unity with them.