JIN – JIYAN – AZADÎ! – We Stand with Iran
Help us support those fighting for freedom in Iran
Every year on March 8, International Women’s Day highlights the struggles of women fighting for more rights and against discrimination, disadvantage, and oppression. As a sign of solidarity with the brave women of Iran – and with women around the world – HÁWAR.help, with the support of seiSTARK e.V., is launching a nationwide Out Of Home campaign across Germany. Under the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom” – “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Kurdish), “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (Farsi), or in German, “Frau, Leben, Freiheit”, the campaign acts as a visible amplifier for the ongoing protests in Iran and for women’s and human rights worldwide.
With your donations, you support the work of HÁWAR.help and projects such as our sponsorship program. Our sponsorship program connects political prisoners in Iran – including Kurds, Baloch, Azeris, and others – with political sponsors in Germany. These are individuals at risk of execution or long-term imprisonment for political reasons. Members of parliament at the federal and state level in Germany can take on these symbolic sponsorships. So far, we have arranged around 400 sponsorships with elected officials.
At the heart of our campaign is the powerful slogan of the women-led human rights movement:
“Woman, Life, Freedom”, “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Kurdish), “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (Farsi), or “Frau, Leben, Freiheit” in German. It captures exactly what the people of Iran are demanding and for which they face daily threats to their lives, including death sentences handed down by the regime’s courts: The right to have rights.
This campaign is rooted in the massive protests led especially by women in Iran, which were triggered by the killing of Jina “Mahsa” Amini on September 16, 2022. Since then, 158 days have passed, and what began as isolated protests has grown into a revolutionary movement calling for the end of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The regime is doing everything in its power to crush this revolution. People are being arrested and killed in the streets by the regime. In recent months, over 19,000 people involved in the protests have been imprisoned. Others have been detained for years already, without due process and in violation of basic legal standards – solely for political reasons.
Among them are also German citizens, such as Nahid Taghavi, who has been unjustly imprisoned in Evin Prison since October 2020 and Jamshid Sharmahd, also imprisoned since 2020, who was sentenced to death this year.
Even chemical attacks have been used against the protest movement: Since November, 900 cases of schoolgirl poisonings have been documented. Five girls have died. Parents are afraid to send their daughters to school. Many schoolgirls across Iran participated in the revolutionary protests for “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî”. It is suspected that the regime is using these attacks to take revenge on them and suppress future protests.
All political prisoners, all women, all children, and all men fighting for their freedom deserve our support!
JEDE SPENDE ZÄHLT
ABOUT HÁWAR.help
HÁWAR.help e.V. is a human rights organization founded in 2015, on the ashes of the genocide against the Yazidis. Today, we implement development, education, and awareness programs in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany. In addition, we engage in both on-the-ground and digital advocacy, including in support of the revolution in Iran. We stand for a world in which every person, regardless of gender, origin, or religious beliefs, can live in freedom, safety, and self-determination. A world where human rights are upheld as the highest good, and where women and children do not have to live in fear of embracing opportunity or daring to dream big. A world where educational initiatives and open societies especially support those who have been scarred by life, and yet still find the courage to carry on.
ABOUT seiSTARK
Since early 2022, the non-profit organization seiSTARK e.V. has been advocating for women in need. At the heart of its work is the empowerment of women who wish to change their life circumstances. seiSTARK offers them guidance and support through volunteer-based mentoring. The organization’s additional programs also aim to strengthen each woman individually: supporting their personal development, and promoting education, access to the labor market, integration, and social participation. Over the past year, seiSTARK gained particular attention through a variety of projects for women and children from Ukraine, and in October 2022, the association launched a nationwide campaign to express solidarity with the women protesting in Iran. Regardless of background, religion, or social status, seiSTARK’s mission is clear: Every woman should be able to live a self-determined and independent life.
OUR WORK ON IRAN
HÁWAR.help has supported and accompanied the feminist revolution in Iran from the very beginning and sees itself as an amplifier of the freedom movement for human and women’s rights in Iran. We advocate for these very rights on an international level and condemn the horrific actions of the regime in Iran, which continues to violate and disregard them every single day.
Our support for the people of Iran focuses on four key areas: We formulate political demands to promote democracy and human rights, we report on current developments and background information in the country, we organize campaigns and demonstrations, and we manage a sponsorship program for political prisoners in Iran who face execution or long-term imprisonment.
