Rayehe Mozafarian

Iranian activist
  • Activist
  • author
  • documentary filmmaker
Years active2008–present

Rayehe Mozafarian (Persian: رایحه مظفریان, born 1986) is an Iranian women and children rights activist, author, and documentary filmmaker. The founder of Stop FGM Iran group and Woman and Zoorkhaneh campaign, she is best known for her researches and raising awareness about female genital mutilation in Iran and challenging the country's Zoorkhaneh Sports Federation to unban women from participating Iranian's ancient sport pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals.

Mozafarian has written several books, most notably Razor and Tradition, which analyzes the different aspects of female circumcision, and The Ring: A Look at Child Marriage in Iran which focuses on child marriage in Iran and the causes of the issue. She has also directed and produced multiple documentary films. Her 2022 documentary about Usher syndrome, The Creation earned her a nomination at the Sixth Annual Documentary TV Awards in Iran.

Life and career

Mozafarian was born in Shiraz.

Rayehe Mozafarian was born in 1986 in Shiraz, Iran.[1][2] After earning a degree in architectural engineering in 2008 from the Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch, she continued her education and graduated in 2011 from Shiraz University with a degree in Sociology of population and development.[3]

Following her studies and researches about female genital mutilation, specifically in Qeshm Island, Mozafarian started writing her first book, تیغ و سنت (transl. Razor and Tradition). The first edition of the book was published by Roshangarn in 2013. The book features seven chapters, analyzing the different aspects of female circumcision, including its scientific and medical aspects, as well as its psychological, individual and social complications and consequences.[4][5][6][7] Another notable book written Mozafarian, حلقه، نگاهی به ازدواج کودکان در ایران (transl. The Ring: A Look at Child Marriage in Iran), was published in 2016. It focuses on child marriage in Iran and the causes of the issue.[8][9] In 2021, she published another book in this field, titled گره: ازدواج زودهنگام در ایران (transl. The Knot: Early marriage in Iran).[10]

Mozafarian has also directed and produced several documentary films in here career, including Ten Forty-one about child marriage, Red snapper about female genital mutilation, The Pit Edge about women presence in pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals, and The Creation about Usher syndrome.[1][10] The Creation has been nominated for Semi-long Documentary at the Sixth Annual Documentary TV Awards in Iran.[11]

Activism

Mozafarian has researched about female genital mutilation (FMG) in Iran and is known as one of the most important activists to fight against the issue in the country.[12] According to her researches, Qeshm Island has the highest rate of FMG in Iran, as 83% of women have undergone circumcision.[13] Mozafarian also visited Shahindokht Molaverdi, the vice president for women and family affairs of Iran, warning about the existence of an extreme form of FGM, called infibulation in some parts of Khuzestan province.[14] Although FMG in Iran occurs due to traditional beliefs and not the religion and Islamic laws,[15] Mozafarian's researches and raising awareness led to a fatwa from Sunni Faqīhs against the female genital mutilation in October 2019.[16] As a result, despite the absence of a specific program for women or children at risk or a specific law against FMG, the fatwa became "very effective in changing the process" on FMG.[12] In 2015, Mozafarian founded Stop FGM Iran (Step by Step Towards Stopping Female Genital Mutilation in Iran) group,[12][17][18] which is the first specialized forum to prevent the spread of this practice in Iran.[19] In the same year, Mozafarian and activist Parvin Zabihi explained how FGM is related to religion and patriarchal society at the New York Festival International Radio Program Awards.[20]

Mozafarian, who practices Iranian's ancient sport pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals by herself and is the first Iranian sportswoman in this field,[21] also campaigns and works towards legally challenging Iran's Zoorkhaneh Sports Federation to unban women from participating in the sports' rituals, as it "has no religious standing". In 2020, a video of Mozafarian and her teammates practicing the sport went viral on the internet, which led condemnation from male athletes and religious groups, who believe "only men should be allowed to perform the ancient rituals".[22][23] Aftab Yazd took an interview with Mozafarian objecting to the tollab who sit-down strike the federation, condemning women practicing the sport. Referring to the protesters who were saying "zoorkhaneh is a holy place and not a place for women", Mozafarian stated that "zoorkhaneh is not holier than the house of God and the mosque" and "women have never been prohibited from attending holy places".[24][25] Former president of the Islamic Federation for Women's Sport in Iran Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani advised Mozafarian to consider using her platform on social media to stand against the ban: "What can be done is spreading the word on social media and talking about it, keeping it alive. You shouldn't let it die."[22] Mozafarian also founded Woman and Zoorkhaneh campaign.[26]

In addition to her efforts for women rights in Iran, Mozafarian is a children rights activist, raising awareness about child marriage and use of children in advertising in the country. Although Iran government has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which consider all people under the age of 18 are children and according to this convention, marriage of children under the age of 18 is prohibited, child marriage exists in Iran. Mozafarian analyzes the reasons of the issue as forcing "a child to marry by ruling and determining expediency" because of the "economic and cultural poverty of families", as well as children tending to "get rid of chaotic family conditions such as addiction and poverty". Mozafarian also stated: "Some families force these minors to get married early in order to prevent their children from getting acquainted with sexual issues or from putting them in danger in premarital relationships."[27][28][29]

Books

The list is adapted from the Online public access catalog.[30]

  • Razor & Tradition (2013)
  • The Glass Wall (2014)
  • A Man Named Shiraz (2014)
  • The Ring: A Look at Child Marriage in Iran (2016)
  • A look at why female genital mutilation has stopped in Iran (2017)
  • The Knot: Early marriage in Iran (2021)
  • Ten, Forty-one: A Look at Child Marriage in Iran Based on History, Documents and Statistics (2022)

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations received by Rayehe Mozafarian
Award Year Nominated work Category Result Ref.
Documentary TV Awards 2022 The Creation Best Semi-long Documentary Pending [31]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "ساخت مستند 'ده‌چهل‌ویک' اثر فیلمساز شیرازی به پایان رسید" [The production of the documentary 'Ten Forty-one' by Shirazi filmmaker has ended] (in Persian). Islamic Republic News Agency. January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "Muẓaffariyān, Rāyaḥah, 1986". Virtual International Authority File. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  3. ^ "درگیری های تغییر نام افراد تغییر جنسیت داده در ایران" [The conflicts of changing the names of transgender people in Iran] (in Persian). Iranian Women's Center. August 15, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  4. ^ "Rayehe – Iran". Equality Now. March 17, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  5. ^ "ختنه زنان'، ریشه‌ای جز جهل و بی‌سوادی ندارد'" ['Female circumcision' has no root but ignorance and illiteracy] (in Persian). Radio Zamaneh. September 22, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  6. ^ "انتشار آثاری درباره زنان، دیگری و حقوق انسان" [Publication of works about women, others and human rights] (in Persian). Iranian Students' News Agency. March 16, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  7. ^ "فتوای علمای اهل سنت ایران بر غیرشرعی بودن ختنه دختران" [Fatwa of Iranian Sunni scholars on the illegitimacy of female circumcision] (in Persian). Islamic Republic News Agency. October 7, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  8. ^ "The Ring: Early Marriage in Iran, by Rayehe Mozafarian". No FGM. July 2, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  9. ^ "ازدواج دختران ٧ تا ١١ ساله در یک روستا" [Marriage of girls aged 7 to 11 in a village] (in Persian). Iranian Students' News Agency. July 11, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "به بهانه مستند 'آفریده'؛ نگاهی به مشکلات بیماران مبتلا به سندرم آشر در کشور" [Under the pretext of the documentary 'Afrideh'; A look at the problems of Usher syndrome patients in the country] (in Persian). HRANA news agency. December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  11. ^ "اعلام نامزدهای ششمین جشنواره تلویزیونی مستند" [Announcement of the nominees of the Sixth Documentary TV Festival] (in Persian). Young Journalists Club. December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c "Covid-19 Creates A Conducive Environment For FGM". BirGün. March 8, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  13. ^ "تیغی به‌نام سنت از زنان بر بدن زنان/ قانونی برای توقف ناقص‌سازی‌ جنسی تصویب شود/ آماری از ختنه زنان" [A razor in the name of women's tradition on women's bodies/ A law should be passed to stop female genital mutilation/ Statistics of female circumcision] (in Persian). Khabar Online. March 8, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  14. ^ "Female genital mutilation practised in Iran, study reveals". The Guardian. June 4, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  15. ^ "هرسال ۳میلیون دختر ختنه می‌شوند/ پای حرف‌های یک قربانی قطع عضو جنسی" [3 million girls are circumcised every year / according to the words of a female genital mutilation victim] (in Persian). Aftab News. July 12, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  16. ^ "فتوای علمای اهل سنت ایران بر غیرشرعی بودن ختنه دختران" [Fatwa of Iranian Sunni scholars on the illegitimacy of female circumcision] (in Persian). Jamaran News. October 7, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  17. ^ "Female Genital Mutilation Reportedly Imposed by ISIS". The Weekly Standard. Center for Islamic Pluralism. November 30, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  18. ^ "Iranian Campaigner Against Female Genital Mutilation Speaks to Kayhan Life". Kayhan Life. February 16, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  19. ^ "ختنه کردن دختران از آمریکا تا برخی استان های ایران: گزارش شفقنا زندگی از تبعات دردناک ناقص سازی جنسی زنان‏‎‏" [Circumcision of girls from America to some provinces of Iran: Shafqna Zendi's report on the painful consequences of female genital mutilation] (in Persian). Shafaqna. May 31, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  20. ^ "Radio program on female genital mutilation in Iran wins New York radio award". Stop FGM Middle East. June 24, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  21. ^ "تعداد بانوان باستانی‌کار در حال افزایش است/ زنان از ابتدای تاریخ تا الان دوش به دوش آقایان حرکت کردند" [The number of bastani sportswomen is increasing/ Women have moved side by side with men since the beginning of history] (in Persian). Borna News. May 24, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  22. ^ a b "These Women Are Reclaiming a Male-Dominated National Sport in Iran". Vice. October 5, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  23. ^ "Iran's 'Ancient Sport' Not A Man's World Anymore". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. June 20, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  24. ^ "آشنایی با دختر ایرانی که میل می‌زند و کباده می‌کشد" [Getting to know an Iranian girl who eats and cooks] (in Persian). Fararu. May 18, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  25. ^ "اعتراض طلاب به حضور زنان در ورزش زورخانه‌ای: لکه ننگی عظیم" [Tollab protest against the presence of women in Zorkhaneh sports: a huge stigma] (in Persian). Deutsche Welle. June 8, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  26. ^ "ندادن حق عضویت یونسکو؛ دلیل ثبت زورخانه به‌نام آذربایجان بجای ایران" [Not giving the UNESCO membership fee; The reason for registering Zoorkhaneh in the name of Azerbaijan instead of Iran] (in Persian). Tabnak. December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  27. ^ "چرا نباید کودکان را ابزار تبلیغات سیاسی کرد؟" [Why should children not be used as tools for political propaganda?] (in Persian). Iranian Students' News Agency. May 3, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  28. ^ "ازدواج کودکان در ایران همچنان یک معضل اجتماعی است" [Child marriage in Iran is still a social problem] (in Persian). Euronews. December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  29. ^ "نقدی بر ارائه شیوه جدید آمار ازدواج کودکان" [A critique on the presentation of the new method of child marriage statistics] (in Persian). Borna News. December 22, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  30. ^ "ليست مدارک يافت شده" (in Persian). Online public access catalog. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  31. ^ "نامزدهای ششمین جشنواره تلویزیونی مستند اعلام شدند" [The nominees of the Sixth Documentary Television Festival have been announced] (in Persian). Mehr News Agency. December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
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