Iran Press/America: Ensiyeh Khazali said in an interview with the US' Newsweek: "I was reading a survey carried out for The Independent [in 2019 by polling company D-CYFOR] on the correlation between dress code and the violation and harassment of women in which 55 percent of men and 41 percent of women said that there is a correlation between the way they dress and the way they are treated."
"Now, these surveys are carried out by universities and academic circles. Why no one takes heed of them? Well, that's a pertinent question. Because power, economy and capitalist mafias would be lost in their business if one did pay attention to such statistics and correlations."
Elsewhere, she said that the assumption of the women presidency or political position is no index for securing women's rights, but some sloganeering to divert the women's focus on their basic rights:
"You see, as we progress, we see increasing violence against women, we see trampling now of their rights and we see that their once-safe haven is being violated.
Let's take a look at violence against women or sexual harassment. I was looking at the official statistics published by the United States. The numbers are frustrating, nothing to compare with Iran, and maybe we could ascribe Iran's lower or better position to several laws that are in place, which act as some prevention. I was looking at these statistics, reading how many women fall victim to domestic violence and how many are killed by their male friends or by their male next of kin. And the numbers are only horrendous.”"Browsing U.S. websites, I came across these statistics published by the CDC on sexual harassment. The numbers are horrendous. A few years ago, we witnessed a MeToo campaign launched. Women came forward and talked about their rights being violated. And the numbers that we're talking about are the numbers of women who disclosed that their rights were violated. Many do not come forward and do not speak for fear of name and reputation.
One out of four women has been raped, others have been groped, and the numbers do not spare children and adolescents either. Being subjected to such violence will leave a psychological and mental stain for good on the people in question, and all of this pertains to women's rights. We need to explore the reasons why women are subjected to such sorts of violations of their rights and what causes them to be subjected to injury. In the United States, it seems that we need to revisit the laws on women's rights.
Morality and ethics are going to waste. I want to quote [U.S. intellectual Noam] Chomsky. He said that the United States today is considered the biggest threat to humanity. And all of this needs to make us ponder what is happening in the United States. What is seen is, of course, in the name of freedom of women, but is trampling or limiting the rights of women that they should otherwise enjoy."
Noting that the identity of women has been dented the world over, trampled and squashed by capitalism, she highlighted efforts to maintain the identity in Iran.
"And if in our own society, we try to speak of the veil that is the hijab, this is because we want to ensure that our women's rights are not violated, and we are setting privacy boundaries for them to be immune to violence and sexual harassment."
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