Why are Western feminists silent on the war on Iranian women?
The article critiques the lack of response from Western feminist movements to the casualties of Iranian women and girls in recent US-Israeli military strikes, contrasting it with their earlier vocal support for Iranian women's protests against compulsory hijab in 2022–2023. The author, an Iranian legal scholar, argues that this silence reflects a selective form of feminist solidarity that recognizes certain forms of gendered oppression while ignoring others. She emphasizes that the destruction of a girls’ school in Minab, which killed over 165 children, constitutes a feminist issue that has been largely excluded from global feminist discourse.
- ▪Western feminist institutions were highly active in supporting Iranian women's protests against compulsory hijab in 2022–2023 but have remained largely silent about the US-Israeli military strikes on Iran in 2026.
- ▪The Iranian Health Ministry reported 251 women and 216 children killed in 40 days of strikes, including over 165 children in a missile attack on a girls’ school in Minab.
- ▪The article highlights the killing of girls in a classroom in Minab as a feminist issue that has not received the same global attention as previous acts of resistance in Iran.
- ▪The author argues that Western feminist visibility often depends on narratives that frame Iranian women as resisting religious patriarchy, while war-related violence against them is overlooked.
- ▪Mothers in Minab continue to mourn at cemeteries, yet their grief remains absent from international feminist discourse and media coverage.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
OPINIONOPINION, Opinion|Women's RightsWhy are Western feminists silent on the war on Iranian women?Those who enthusiastically supported Iranian women’s protests against the state are eerily silent as those same women are targeted by Israeli and American missiles.By Sahar MaranlouIranian legal scholar and lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London.Published On 30 Apr 202630 Apr 2026ListenListen (7 mins)SaveClick here to share on social mediashare-nodesSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoA gardener waters the plants in front of the portraits of girls killed in a strike on a school in the southern city of Minab on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, at Tajrish Square in Tehran, on April 16, 2026. [AFP]Feminist attention is not neutral.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Al Jazeera English.
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