Solidarity with Women in Iran

The protesters stood opposite the Iranian Embassy in Kensington with placards calling for an end to violence against women and stating that the forced wearing of the veil is the symbol of Women's subjugation.

They demanded an end to the Islamic regime and equal rights for women, who at the moment cannot travel freely and do not have custody of their children, as well as the right to abortion, currently illegal in Iran. They also called for an end to the stoning of women for adultery, officially this was ended in 2002 but there have been a number of well-documented cases of this barbaric punishment since then.

Police had coned off one lane of the road and erected pens to facilitate the demonstration and briefly checked with the protesters what they intended to do.

From Kensington the protesters, accompanied by a samba band, marched to Traalgar Square, where a rally was held on the North Terrace. There were speeches and messages from the 8 March Women's Organisation, the European Democratic Women Movement (Turkey), Hands off People of Iran, the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq and the Million Women Rise movement.

There were then appearances by a number or artists and I stayed to listen to the powerful singing of Gisoo Shakeri and to hear poet Ziba Karbasi reading several of her poems. Although both performed in a language I cannot understand, there work was still moving. Unfortunately I had to leave before the other performances on the programme.

More pictures on Demotix:
 http://www.demotix.com/news/270173/protest-solidarity-women-iran

And shortly on My London Diary,
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2010/03/mar.htm