🔶 After 20 years, the legacy of the One Million Signatures campaign for the women’s movement

🔻 Report by Atifeh Chaharomaliyān

The campaign “One Million Signatures for Changing Discriminatory Laws against Women” began in Shahrivar 1385 with the goal of collecting one million signatures to reform unequal laws; an effort that quickly went beyond a signature-collection campaign and became one of the important experiences of civic activism and feminist organizing in Iran.

By showing up in the streets, universities, neighborhoods, and homes, campaign activists talked with people about issues such as the right to divorce, custody, inheritance, testimony, and polygamy, while also running educational workshops, study sessions, and media and cultural activities.

Although women were at the center of this movement, men also took part in different sections of the campaign, and three months after it began, a committee titled “Men for Equality” was formed to expand and organize men’s participation in this movement.