Feminism Better than Bombs for Democracy in Iran, Says Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi

In a speech at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, on September 14, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, Iranian activist and former judge Shirin Ebadi, said that "we should support women fighting for democracy" instead of "bringing democracy with cluster bombs." She detailed ways that feminism has already improved democracy in Iran, while listing ways that laws still treat women as less than fully equal to men. The Center for Protecting Human Rights, an Iranian organization, was banned by the Iranian government in August. Ibadi was the first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

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