Global Fund for Women Weblog

A Branch in Every Home

We were honored to begin this month by spending time with the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Shirin Ebadi. At a public event co-sponsored by the New York County Lawyers’ Association, she and I had a spirited conversation on the themes of “Women, Law and Democracy.” The Global Fund is proud to support hundreds of women’s organizations around the world that are demanding nothing less than democratic participation in their daily lives, and in their legal and political institutions. To quote Dr. Ebadi, “the feminist movement may not have well-known leaders but I can assure you, there is a branch in every (Iranian) home!” As summer begins, I hope that you will take heart and inspiration from their commitment and passion.

A Conversation With Shirin Ebadi

t the Global Fund's recent event, "Women, Law and Democracy," Nobel Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi spoke with clarity from her perspective as an Iranian woman, lawyer and human rights activist, who is living and working under a repressive theocracy. In the conversation with Global Fund president Kavita N. Ramdas, Dr. Ebadi made three resounding points: first, that democracy requires society to make a clear separation between church and state, and to refuse to privilege any one religion over another; two, that democracy cannot be forced upon people at the point of a gun; and, last, but not least, that there can be no true democracy without guaranteeing women’s full freedom and equality.