Iranians Tweet On:
The Women Locked Out Of The Stadium Gates
Iran’s crushing victory over the USA in the Volleyball World League was a good bit of volleyball diplomacy. But outside the stadium, tensions flared over discrimination against women in sports.
The Iranian national volleyball team achieved a stunning victory over the reigning champions USA when they met in the Volleyball World League on June 19 and 21. Tehran’s Azadi Stadium was packed out with a crowd of over 12,000 fans eager to cheer the home team on to triumph.
While political tensions build ahead of a final nuclear agreement in Geneva, there was little evidence of acrimony on the court. Quite the opposite: Iranians on Twitter responded positively to reports that the US team refused water before sunset out of respect for the Iranian team’s Ramadan fast.
After his team’s defeat, the US coach John Speraw spoke warmly about the hospitality of the Iranian people, stating that the global media paints a fundamentally distorted picture of the relationship between Iran and the US:
“The relationship between the people is not reflective of the relationship between our governments […] The message we would bring back is this: it was a great trip and we look forward to coming here again.” US team coach John Speraw
But the picture isn’t all rosy: the match also marked a major flashpoint in the ongoing conflict in Iranian society over the ban on female spectators at sports games.
In early April US media sources reported that Iran would start to allow women into sports arenas, reversing a pre-existing ruling forbidding women from watching men’s games. However, in a subsequent compromise with conservatives Rouhani’s government agreed to allocate just 200 tickets to women, the majority of whom were either players’ relatives or members of Iran’s Volleyball Federation.
Even this compromise brought harsh criticism from Iran’s hardliners, further frustrating the Rouhani government’s efforts to promote gender equality. Rouhani’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi has been vocal in her opposition to the ban on women in sports stadiums, but her efforts have so far borne little fruit.
This week we collected the most re-shared tweets about the hashtags #Volleyball (والیبال#) and #Women_Stadium (زنان _ورزشگاه#) between June 15 and 22.
Red Lines.
What did they say?
Newspaper editors have been notified that from this point onwards, #volleyball is over the red line. #Women_Stadium
What does it mean?
The editors of Iran’s leading news agencies were informed by the government that any articles written about the ban on women in stadiums would be considered a breach of the ‘red line’ — a term used to describe topics the government deems off-limits to journalists.
The stadium ban has been framed by hardliners as an issue of “vice” and “spreading immoral behaviour”, and as such the press is forbidden from covering it.
For more information about Iran’s arbitrary implementation of media law to suppress journalism, check out Chapter I of Revolution Decoded, our journal on Iran’s digital media landscape.
Maximum Security.
What did they say?
Security measures are in place to prevent #women from accessing even the streets around the stadium. #Women_Stadium
What does it mean?
The Washington-based journalist Niusha Saremi shared a Facebook post by the activist Banafsheh Jamali, who attempted to take part in a June 19 protest against the stadium ban.
According to Banafsheh’s report, the streets leading to the stadium were teeming with police. Officers inspected every car, and asked all vehicles containing women to take an alternative route. Banafsheh protested, stating: “My house is this way, I need to get through”, but the officer answered that women were forbidden from entering the vicinity of the stadium due to the volleyball match.
Banafsheh’s post demonstrates the severity with which hardliners are enforcing the ban, and the importance to which they attach this issue. But it also shows how doggedly activists are resisting conservatives’ restrictions, and protesting openly against the status quo.
Twitter Storm.
What did they say?
Twitter Storm: Access to stadiums is a civil right of women #volleyball #LetWomenGoToStadium #WorldLeague2015
What does it mean?
While chaos and protest erupted on the streets around Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, a Twitter storm was brewing in cyberspace, managing to draw a great deal of global attention.
Twitter Storm: Let Women Go To Stadiums is a social media campaign encouraging people to draw international attention to the violation of women’s civil rights in Iran.
You can follow it, and learn how to take part in the next Twitter Storm here.
Breaking News!
What did they say?
200 day passes were delivered to female members of the Volleyball Federation, and only these 200 women are authorised to watch the matches. #Women_Stadium
What does it mean?
This news about the restriction on the number of female fans allowed to watch the match didn’t necessarily come as a huge shock for Iranians. When the Iranian government announced a partial lift of the ban on women attending sport matches, Ghoncheh Ghavami — detained for 125 days as she tried to enter Azadi Stadium last year — welcomed the news, but predicted incremental change:
“Although this proposal is likely to be enforced with some limitations in the beginning, fortunately [this issue] has gained a great deal of public support in the country thanks to the efforts of women’s rights activists over the past decade.”
Mobilise!
What did they say?
Poll of male friends: Will you take part in the protest against the ban on women in stadiums? Please #retweet so the group reaches at least 100 participants #Volleyball
What does it mean?
The top tweet is a call to arms!
After the failure of efforts to lobby the government to defend the rights of women to attend sports stadiums, Iranian people took to social media to organise a protest against the hardliners’ policy.
Iranian women are no strangers to this kind of discrimination — last year the had to deal with exactly the same situation at the 2014 Volleyball World League. Although the entry of a small circle of women to Azadi Stadium is a small sign of progress, Rouhani’s government is yet to secure a major victory in this particular battle with hardliners.
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