Feminist platform calls for global accountability for crimes against women

The Women's Transnational Democratic Platform called for holding those responsible for crimes committed against women worldwide accountable; from Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq to the United States, emphasizing that violence against women is no longer a local phenomenon or an isolated incident, but rather a systematic global pattern.

The statement included, "In an era where the world proudly speaks of technological progress, transparency, and human rights, a stark and terrifying truth remains. Women are not safe anywhere. Wherever they set foot on the world map, their bodies have become a battleground; sometimes under the guise of democracy, sometimes under the cover of religion, sometimes behind the letter of the law, and often amid the deadly silence of international institutions. The forms of violence vary, but the logic is the same: to eliminate, control, and silence women."

The statement pointed out that this logic has reached one of its most blatant forms in Iran, particularly after the revolution, where women have been arrested and forcibly disappeared, with no information about their whereabouts, their health and psychological state, or even whether they are still alive. The families of the disappeared face a vicious cycle of marginalization between detention centers, security agencies, and hospitals, amid systematic threats, intimidation, and pressure that force them into silence, preventing them from asking questions or pursuing the fate of their daughters.

The statement added that leaked reports from hospitals revealed an even more horrific image, with medical staff stating that they had received orders to refrain from identifying the bodies of murdered women, leaving them unidentified, unregistered, and erased from collective memory. The platform emphasized that this is not merely murder, but a deliberate cover-up of the crime, a form of violence that extends even after death, depriving families of their right to know the truth and to mourn.

The statement affirmed that these practices are classified under international law as enforced disappearances, a crime that, when committed on a widespread and systematic basis against a specific group, constitutes a crime against humanity. It emphasized that what is happening in Iran is not an exceptional case or a local phenomenon, but rather falls within a global pattern of systematic violations against women and citizens.

On the other side of the world, the statement pointed out that cases like "Epstein Island" have exposed networks in which children and girls, especially minors, are turned into commodities within circles of power, wealth, and politics. It asserted that Jeffrey Epstein was not an isolated individual, but a symbol of a system that demonstrates that even in systems claiming to uphold freedom, when accountability is absent, the bodies of girls become the most vulnerable targets.

The statement clarified that "Epstein Island" is not confined to a specific geographical location, but extends to every place where the truth is concealed, the victim is left nameless, and those in power escape accountability. It stated that Iran's prisons, detention centers, and unmarked graves are extensions of this same geography.

The statement continued: “Violence against women is not limited to detention centers, but is sometimes enshrined in legal texts. In Iraq, laws are enacted that allow girls to marry at the age of nine, which is considered child rape. These laws are not a tradition or a culture, but rather an official declaration of war on girls. When the law is transformed from a tool of protection into a gateway to legitimizing sexual violence, the line between crime and right disappears.”

 The statement continued, "Violence against women is not confined to detention centers; it is sometimes enshrined in the law. In Iraq, laws permit the marriage of girls as young as nine, which constitutes child rape. These laws are not a tradition or a cultural practice, but rather an official declaration of war on girls. When the law is transformed from a tool of protection into a gateway for legitimizing sexual violence, the line between crime and right disappears."

The statement also noted that Afghanistan, through its system of laws and decrees, has deprived women of the most basic human rights; education, work, and freedom of movement to social participation. It asserted that women have been effectively excluded from public life, rendered invisible, in what amounts to gender-based segregation and the systematic exclusion of half of society from its right to life.

The platform emphasized that this pattern is repeated in wars, natural disasters, and humanitarian crises, from Shengal to Sudan, and from Myanmar to refugee camps, where women and children are the first victims of kidnapping, human trafficking, and sexual slavery. In every crisis, the woman's body becomes the quickest target.

The statement added, "These tragedies cannot be viewed in isolation from the equations of global power, where political and economic interests take precedence over human lives, stability is used as a pretext for compromising with oppression, and silence becomes official policy. We ask who is responsible for the missing women? Who is responsible for the unidentified bodies? Who benefits from the legalization of children rape? And who supports the exclusion of women from public life? Silence is not neutrality; silence is complicity."

The statement emphasized that the demand for justice for missing Iranian women, for Iraqi girls as young as nine, and for forgotten Afghan women is a single demand; the right of women to life, to be seen, and to be treated as human beings. It stressed that this issue is not merely a feminist concern, but a true test of humanity's conscience and international responsibility.

In closing, the Transnational Democratic Platform for Women asserted that the silence of governments, international institutions, and political actors in the face of these crimes is not neutrality, but rather outright complicity.

It called for the recognition of enforced disappearances of women in Iran as a crime against humanity, the establishment of independent international fact-finding commissions that support the victims' families, guaranteeing their right to know the truth, and holding accountable all governments and power networks involved in systematic violence against women.