Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: For all women in Canada and elsewhere who believe in gender equality, the selection on October 6 of Nargues Mohammadi, Iranian activist, as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize sends a wonderful message of hope.

From deep in the prison where she is being held in Tehran, despite heart problems and mistreatment, Nargues Mohammadi remains among the harshest critics of Iranian theocratic power.

Arrested 13 times and sentenced five times to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes, this activist is fighting body and soul against mandatory veiling and violence against Iranian women.

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Her voice is powerful. Here are her own words in an essay recently published in The New York Times:

What the government may not understand is that the more of us they lock up, the stronger we become.

The morale among the new prisoners is high. Some spoke with strange ease about writing their wills before heading onto the streets to call for change. All of them, no matter how they were arrested, had one demand: Overthrow the Islamic Republic regime.

What is less known is that Narges Mohammadi is also a mother who for eight years has not seen her twins, now 16 years old, who are exiled with their father. Her son speaks of her with pride. Her daughter only wants to be reunited with her mother. But Narges refused to leave Iran to continue her fight for freedom. This is a heavy sacrifice.

Could this highly publicized Nobel Prize breathe new life into the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, which has moved underground since the regime’s violent repression? Is Narges Mohammadi the long-awaited leader who could unify the opposition? Who knows? But we can hope.

[Translation]

In the meantime, Canada should be using every tool at its disposal to put maximum pressure on the Iranian regime and its accomplices. Although a Senate motion urged the Government of Canada to do just that, it has yet to declare the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity, despite its close ties to Hamas, which is designated a terrorist entity.

We cannot remain indifferent to what has been described as an unprecedented feminist revolution. Narges Mohammadi is counting on us. With all eyes riveted on Gaza or Ukraine, let’s not turn our backs on Iranian women.

Thank you.

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