Some of the other press coverage of the press conference:
Iranian with stoning sentence tormented, AP, 31 July 2010
Iranian woman facing stoning says 'I'm afraid of dying,' CNN, 31 July 2010
Iran mother facing stoning pleads to see children, AFP, 31 July 2010
Iran Stoning case asks to be reunited with her children, The Guardian, 30 July 2010
Campaign to Stop stoning, Fox New, 30 July 2010
As a woman I thank you for your courageous efforts - when you help one woman suffering injustice you help all women around the world. I have been following the Iranian Revolution since my days as a teenager and have been horrified not only by the sexual apartheid of the regime but by the way that it seems to be viewed as a model for how all Islamic nations should be run. It is often assumed that the Islamic radicalisation of third generation Muslims of Pakistani origin is a direct result of the events of 9/11, but I am old enough to know it predates that and remember vividly the moment when the Pakistani community in Bradford mobilised around a new militant Islamic identity, at the turn of 1989, when they publically burned The Satanic Verses (inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini). From that day forward,the more inclusive cultural terms of 'Asian' and even 'Pakistani' gave way to 'Muslim' and for Muslim women in this country, that became their expected sole identity. Everywhere around the world, women from Muslim backgrounds are expected to look to Saudi Arabia and Iran - and nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of dress code - first the assumption that to be a good Muslim, a woman has to wear a hijab, and now increasingly, the full niqab. I see all these Islamic restrictions and punishments as being connected by the idea that women should be invisible and if our existence must be tolerated, then we must not be allowed any rights - so we should challenge them all. Keep up the good work - you have my total support.
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