Progress Amid Resistance

150 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAdestitute. Consequently, some resort to seasonal, unsafe, and ex ploitativeeconomic activities within the informal economy. 81 Rates of addiction,drug abuse, and prostitution are increasing among the most vulnerablecategories of women, and as the number of prostitutes rises, their averageage has decreased. 82Women’s rights activists among the Iranian communities in NorthAmerica and Europe play a significant role in presenting alternative imagesand ideas about women and women’s rights in Iran. In collaboration orsolidarity with women activists inside Iran who are campaigning for equalrights, women overseas contribute to the process of change through theirpublications, translations into Farsi of feminist literature, media programs,and activism at the international level. 83 In the past 30 years, approximately162 Iranian women’s groups have formed on four continents, in 16countries, and in 40 cities. 84RecommendationsF The government should allow women’s rights activists to have accessto the mainstream media by allocating airtime and special columns inmajor daily papers to the discussion of women’s issues and concerns.F The government should respect the freedom of choice of women,Muslim and non-Muslim alike, in terms of their dress and publicappearance. Covering one’s hair and wearing a headscarf or chadorshould not be mandatory.F Women should have access to both male and female doctors and medicalstaff so as to achieve access to health care on par with men.F Nongovernmental organizations should be established with the purposeof providing services to households headed by women, includingsubsidized or free food and household items.AUTHORNayereh Tohidi is Professor and Chair of the Department of Genderand Women’s Studies at California State University, Northridge, and aResearch Associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies at the Universityof California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She earned her doctorate and master’sdegrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and abachelor’s degree from the University of Tehran. Dr. Tohidi was the editoror author of publications including Globalization, Gender and Religion: