Women's Rights

I grew up loving the game of football. As often as possible, I’d watch the matches on television with family and friends, cheering on our favorite teams and players. But as a woman in Iran, I’ve never seen a single game played in my home country. Iran's largest stadium is named Azadi - which means "freedom" - and it seats 100,000 sports fans. However, not one of those seats is currently designated for Iranian women to freely enjoy sports.  Please sign my petition demanding FIFA use its power to call for an end to Iran’s stadium ban for women. Help me raise 100,000 signatures to represent the 100,000 seats of Azadi Stadium. UPDATE: Our new goal is 200,000! Women are passionate sports fans just like men, and deserve to cheer on their teams in the stadiums. The fact that this discriminatory ban has existed for 38 years is appalling, and an assault on our right to free assembly. But the good news is that it’s not actually written into our law, and can easily be overturned – if we apply enough pressure on the right people. Iran is the only country playing in this year’s World Cup which bans women from stadiums, a direct violation of FIFA’s gender discrimination statute and their new human rights policy. Yet FIFA president Gianni Infantino has shown no sign of doing anything about it – in fact, he was recently photographed posing with Iranian president Rouhani the day after 35 women were arrested for attempting to attend a football game.  Sign my petition to demand that Mr. Infantino use his power to get Iran to end the stadium ban for women. Support #NoBan4Women. Thank you!  من از طرفداران فوتبال هستم، اما همیشه مسابقات رو فقط از توی تلویزیون دیدم و بخاطر دختر بودنم هیچوقت این شانسرو نداشتم که بازی تیم مورد علاقه‌ام رو در کشورم از نزدیک تماشا کنملطفا این طومار رو که برای پایان دادن به منع حضور زنان ایرانی به ورزشگاه‌ها به فیفا نوشته شده امضا کنید بسیاری از خانمها هم مثل اکثر آقایان طرفدار فوتبال هستند و این حق رو دارند که مسابقات مورد علاقه شون رو از نزدیکتماشا کنند. این مانعی که سالها وجود داره توهینی به همه ما زنان ایرانی است. خوشبختانه منع قانونی در این مورد وجودندارد، بنابراین، تغییر این شرط ممکن استایران تنها کشوری است که این اجازه را به زنان نمیدهد که این بر خلاف قوانین فدراسیون جهانی فوتبال است چرا کهتبعیض جنسیتی محسوب میشود. با  این حال تا کنون هیچ انتقادی از طرف فیفا مطرح نشده است. اگر همه ما خواسته خودمان را مطرح کنیم، فیفا قادر به نادیده گرفتن این وضعیت نخواهد بود فیفا یک مجمع بین المللی است و عده زیادی از زنان در این مجمع حضور دارند که به افکار عمومی اهمیت میدهند لطفا برای درخواست از فیفا جهت پایان دادن به منع حضور زنان به ورزشگاه‌ها این طومار رو امضا کنید Petitioner: My Fundamental Right | Supported by: Equality League

Tammy Garvin is an incarcerated survivor of domestic violence and sex trafficking who has been in prison for 27 years as a result of her trafficker/abuser’s lethal violence. Tammy was only 14 years old when she was trafficked, and by the time she was convicted and sentenced to Life Without Parole in her early 30s, she suffered from the long-term effects of severe psychological and sexual abuse. Join us in asking Governor Jerry Brown to commute Tammy Garvin’s sentence from Life Without Parole to a parole-eligible sentence. BACKGROUND Tammy Garvin is an incarcerated survivor of multiple forms of abuse throughout her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. After suffering childhood sexual abuse, Tammy was sex-trafficked at age 14. Exacerbating the dangerous and high-risk conditions of sex trafficking, Tammy also suffered ongoing physical and sexual abuse from her trafficker. At the time of her arrest in 1991, Tammy had survived compounded physical and sexual trauma. She was 32 years old when her trafficker/abuser coerced her into robbing one of her clients with him. Tammy drove him to the scene and waited in the car. When it seemed like it was taking him too long to return, Tammy entered the building and realized her trafficker/abuser killed the client. Terrified and traumatized, Tammy ran from the scene with him. As a result, Tammy and her trafficker/abuser were both charged with murder: the felony murder rule was used to hold them equally culpable, even though Tammy did not murder the client. Tammy’s trafficker/abuser threatened to kill her and her father if they testified against him. Under threat, Tammy revoked her testimony and her father refused to testify. Extending his abuse into courtroom proceedings, Tammy’s trafficker/abuser actively undermined her ability to tell her story and her right to a fair trial. Even though Tammy’s trafficker/abuser admitted to being the perpetrator of the murder, he was ultimately acquitted. During her trial in 1995, the criminal legal system ignored the patterns of violence inflicted on Tammy by her trafficker/abuser and her years of victimization since childhood. Although an expert on trafficking testified at her trial, Tammy did not have an expert on intimate partner violence because intimate relationships in the context of sex trafficking did not qualify as domestic violence in the eyes of the law. The court further undermined Tammy’s right to a fair trial by failing to recognize her as simultaneously victimized by domestic violence and sex trafficking. While in prison, Tammy has focused on healing from the abusive cycles she was deeply embedded in at the time of her arrest. Tammy has developed meaningful insight into the traumatic impact of the abuse she suffered. She has also developed a deeper understanding of how she found herself entering a crime scene, unable to stop her trafficker/abuser from killing the client, and unable to understand or escape his ongoing abuse throughout her prosecution. Throughout her 27 years of incarceration, Tammy has been involved in serving her community. She is a peer educator on infectious diseases and a trained facilitator leading groups on Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking, Healing Trauma, Beyond Violence, Victim Impact, and Restorative Justice, among others. Tammy has become a leader amongst women serving life without parole, participating in various support groups and encouraging her peers to seek opportunities for healing. Join us in asking Governor Brown to commute Tammy Garvin’s sentence from Life Without Parole to a parole-eligible sentence. Survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking should be strongly supported and affirmed rather than punished for violent acts committed by their abusers. Thank you for your support! Please see our petitions to commute Stacey, Brandy, Rae & Christina. To support more survivors, follow us @survivepunish.

Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, Supreme Court nominee, stands accused of a crime, and it will take a public outcry to ensure these allegations are investigated before the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on his confirmation. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accuses Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed and drunkenly assaulting her while another boy, Mark Judge, watched. The event took place when they were in high school. She spoke publicly about the encounter to The Washington Post. We, the undersigned, demand that the U.S. Senate delay the vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh until its members have conducted a proper investigation into these allegations. Blasey described Judge Kavanaugh attempting to remove her clothes and covering her mouth when she tried to scream. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” Blasey said in the interview. Early in the summer, when it became clear that Kavanaugh would be selected as Trump's nominee, Blasey sent a letter to her congresswoman, Anna G. Eshoo, and reached out to The Washington Post tip line. Later in July, she sent a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein. For several weeks, Blasey chose not to speak publicly in order to protect her family and her own privacy. Knowing she would be attacked, she completed and passed a lie detector test, administered by an ex-FBI agent, and gave the results to The Washington Post. Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life. If the vote to confirm Kavanaugh goes ahead without an investigation, these allegations could hang over the court for more than 40 years. With the upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Kavanaugh and Blasey, we need to press Chairman Chuck Grassley to call for a delay. Sign now to call for a formal investigation into Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against Kavanaugh.

A Petition to be delivered to all U.S. Senators, all Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and to all State lawmakers  Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment NOW Are you aware that Women’s Rights are not in the U.S. Constitution? Ask around. Many people mistakenly believe Women’s Rights are already in the U.S. Constitution. They’re not. Wait. What? They’re not? They’re not. The U.S. Constitution gives Women only one right –the right to vote. It’s time to amend the Constitution to guarantee women all the rights men have… not just the one right to vote. Fellow students and others, it’s time for us to finally convince elected U.S. and State lawmakers to pass and ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). It’s so overdue.  What can you do?  Sign this petition if you support adding the ERA to the U.S. Constitution.  Sign this petition if you want to help lawmakers Pass and Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.  Sign this petition to accept the torch from those who came before us, giants on whose shoulders we stand. Let’s take the Equal Rights Movement up to the next level – ratification. Let’s take the torch from those who lit it and those who carried it such as: Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman; U.S. Representative Bella Abzug of New York and feminists Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, Bobbie Francis; Eleanor Roosevelt; Lucy Stone, Senator Ted Kennedy, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Senator Patsy Mink, Jeannette Rankin, Billie Jean King, Shirley Chisholm et al.  It’s our turn now. Be among the next wave of Equal Rights Activists. Sign, then spread the word. Then ask your U.S. and State lawmakers where they stand on the ERA. Ask them to sign, too. Be one of the reinforcements. Help make women’s rights official and Constitutional.