Presentation of the 2023 International Women’s Rights Award with Genoveva Tisheva

Vice Chair of the U.N Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Genoveva Tisheva presents the International Women’s Rights Award at the 15th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracysee below for her remarks

Full Remarks

It is a great honor to stand before you today as we gather to celebrate the courage, moral leadership, and devotion of those who tirelessly work towards the advancement of women’s rights. 

This year, at the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights, we honor an exceptional individual whose relentless pursuit of justice has made a profound impact on countless lives: The inspiring Iranian activist and former political prisoner Shima Babaei. 

In 2017, while she was a student of architecture in Iran, Shima’s name became synonymous of the “Girls of Revolution Street” demonstrations that took place across Iran 

She risked her life and liberty to protest for women’s rights, openly defying the law that forces all women to wear a headscarf. She also rallied in support of political prisoners. As a result, Shima was repeatedly summoned, arrested, and jailed by Iranian police. She was sentenced to prison for the crimes of “removing the hijab in public” and “publishing indecent material on social media.” 

In February 2018, Shima was subjected to 21 days of solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin Prison. She was interrogated 14 times. She was denied access to legal representation. Shima and her husband Dariush Zand, a fellow activist, were charged with “assembly and collusion against national security,” “propaganda against the state,” and “publishing falsehoods on social media.” Facing six years of imminent imprisonment, the couple fled Iran in late 2018. 

Now based in Belgium, Shima continues the fight, beyond her country’s borders, against gender discrimination. When the death in custody of Mahsa Amini sparked mass protests in September 2022, Shima became a leading voice of the diaspora. She told CNN: “At the very same building in the morality police headquarters, they treated me as a criminal, put me in handcuffs, and disgraced me.” In November, Shima was one of four Iranian activists invited to a landmark meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Shima is now fighting for the release of her father, Ebrahim Babaei, a human rights activist who has been forcibly disappeared since December 2021, when he tried to flee Iran. For years, he was brutally punished for his peaceful protests, and for supporting his daughter’s activism. Human rights activists are calling for his immediate release, and at least for his whereabouts to be disclosed. 

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “In the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing, we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’”  

Despite so many hardships, Shima Babaei is a woman who has chosen hope over fear. She dreams of a world where women are treated equally, and she fights for that dream. Her courage and determination have made her a beacon of hope for women in Iran and around the world.  

On behalf of the 25 human rights groups that co-sponsor the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, I am proud to present the 2023 International Women’s Rights Award to Shima Babaei. 

Shima, please come forward to receive the award. 

Speakers and Participants

Related

Free and Fair Elections – Case Study: Iran with David Suurland, Stephane Bussard

Stéphane Bussard, former Le Temps US correspondent in New York, and David Suurland, a Ph.D. and co-founder of the Foundation for Freedom of Information who has written extensively on political Islam, address the 2nd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full remarks   David

Women's Rights

Taking on ISIS, Fighting for Women’s Rights with Sohrab Ahmari

Sohrab Ahmari, Editorial Writer for The Wall Street Journal, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.  Full Remarks Well ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here, for staying with us. I’m Sohrab Ahmari, I’m an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal and I have the honor

Women's Rights

Geneva Summit 2015 Women’s Rights Award with Masih Alinejad

Masih Alinejad, Iranian women’s rights activist, journalist, and founder of the My Stealthy Freedom campaign, addresses the 7th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Remarks Hillel Neuer: I just want to say personally, what an honor it is for myself and my organization

Women's Rights

2022 Women’s Rights Award with Zarifa Ghafari, Melissa Mahtani

Full Transcript Moderator: I want to ask you, you served as Afghanistan’s youngest female mayor. But what made you run for mayor in the first place? Zarifa Ghafari: Thank you so much. Actually, first of all, I think if you believe in yourself, if you believe you’re doing right, it doesn’t