Ok join the stream today while women in iran still barred from entering stadiums for sporting events well and more about the battle how something continues to fight against it whats your take your thoughts with us fly twitter a. J. Stay. There in. Your industry. In iran a football fans death by selfimmolation has prompted cause to end a ban on women entering stadiums to temper the 2nd 29 year old son. Set herself on fire in front of a courthouse after learning that she could face prison time following her attempt to enter terrans zadi stadium back in march she later died from her injuries on social media has been called the blue girl after the color of her Favorite Team esther lao f. C. Iranian women have been banned from attending main sporting matches since 1901 or though temporary exceptions have been made for women to watch the National Football team for inquiry ari steph irans government announced that women would be allowed to attend the top of the 10 world cup qualifying match between iran and cambodia. Our upcoming game is with cambodia and women will be present their presence will increase step by step. So could the blue girls death change things for women in iran joining us to talk about this in washington d. C. Jasmine Ramsey Communications director of the center for human rights in iran in toronto canada Shereen Ahmed a small activist and cohost of the feminist sports podcast burn it all down ladies hello welcome good to see you i really have to show our audience what it is like to be in the s. R. D. Stadium lets start with the google picture festival going to rotate it just a little bit this is huge a massive impact and im going to say here just hazarding a guess here with mostly guys that feeling of being in that stadium i want you to have a listen experience it him either. Just when i think of a sale as i hear what is that chanting it sounds like a cool day and the excitement and so popped in that stadium what does it mean the Beautiful Day in iran how much the people of. Well its actually quite emotional listening to that sound i still think i was because im im just thinking of our and what she went through and the women that they use force full state Security Apparatus simply to get inside those stadiums they face arrest and prosecution for trying to get inside that stadium and the worst part about it is that there is no actual law banning its an unofficial policy that keeps them out showing this idea and i know you spent a lot of time talking about this this idea of women not being allowed into the football stadiums in iran can you explain a little bit more why would they not be allowed to be that well post revolution in iran 1979 women were no longer welcome into these spaces and i think its important to remember that historically women have always played a very big part of the sport culture of iran and even to the stage theres a wonderful culture of football the women participate in weightlifting so its not as the women are banned from sports out right theyre just simply not allowed to go participate and a very beautiful basic form of supporting which is unacceptable and theyre the only muslim majority country in the world that currently still has this type of policy i mean even saudi arabia now allows women stadiums so theres theres really no reason for it its just about controlling womens bodies and controlling their access and its not acceptable i wouldnt rush in for you just when you can you can assess and ill share this question were going to i just wanted to point out that its really ironic because when the revolution happened the governments that they were taking iran back that they were giving it back to the people of the country and many rights were taken away particularly from women and this is just one of them and its why its so important now that so many women are standing up and taking that right back. Doesnt let me put this to you from daniel hes on twitter and he doesnt understand if women can watch the game with families and watch the game on t. V. Because of the stupid or going to that in just a moment he said but why a boys allowed to watch football and not girls i mean you have to ask the people that support the policy i mean you know theres reasons that officials will give and its 2 different types one is its a very narrow interpretation of islam by the government that says that women shouldnt be allowed to watch men in sports and then the other excuse is that the facilities are not appropriate for women so for example they lack womens bathrooms but of course iranian women have gone into the stadiums at times when the ban has been relaxed and also when they have disguised themselves theyve gone inside theyve enjoyed the game and then they left and none of the fears of the people that support this ban came to your. Says here you should know that this is a fact theres no equal definition of the crime going to a stadium for women and i know you were saying doesnt you saying at the very beginning that sound from the stadium the Main National stadium made you quite emotional because women do try and get into that stadium and sometimes they succeed but then theres an impact if that court what happens to them. Well so in the case of sour for example she was arrested trying to get outside the stadium the details of exactly what happened are were very limited the iranian government did a lot to kind of keep this case quiet because it was attracting International Headlines but she tried to 7 immolate after going to the courthouse to be tried in connection with her arrest so you can be arrested you can be detained you can be summoned to court and you can be prosecuted and imprisoned for trying to enter the stadium. I should mention that. Has iran as a member of the National Teams in iran a safe and im just looking at the rules and regulations one hayes says nondiscrimination equality. And the actual regulations about not discriminating so that would include sons having access to the game and be allowed to go watch matches why is this continuing to happen in iran because its clearly against the cecil rules well its against most every governing body statute in this lets just remember that this doesnt only apply to feed. So what they owe to you the blue girl actually fell in love with football so i mean this is this particular sport that she wanted to access but this is all across the board for volleyball. So its something that all governing bodies should be aware of and it is absolutely against their statutes against their charters not discriminating against a person because of their gender this is exactly that case and what were seeing now is with more Media Attention about very tragically the death. Like that people should not keep talking about i mean future has been making statements that i consider vacuous for over 10 years that blotter made statements about it but it didnt lead to any specific course of action enough is enough now how many other women will have to die for this to happen and the difficulty with the situation is because that state sanctioned violence against women women dont really know which contributed to the distress of the whole day already which contributed to why you know she set herself on fire and the crux of this issue the catalyst is that women are being forced to not participate in something that they want to its not difficult to turn a certain part of the stadium into a womens section or a Family Structure that excuses are unacceptable and important to point out its not. Women better in making this decision i mean you know if you left it up to women be they muslim or not muslim they would probably say it should be a womans choice but its a decision being made by men or women even though theyre men and many men are standing up and saying that its not right and that they oppose and condemn the policy. I mean thats really important to remember that it is in most situations of power men making decisions exactly what jasmine is saying and women trying to resist i mean open stadiums is an organization thats been resisting for over 13 years and the other thing that i just want to point out about this policy is the band is iranian women which further renders that more ridiculously absurd but a visiting teams women come to support them theyre allowed to enter the stadium so it even makes no sense and so some of the pictures lays if youve been talking that we shown on screen are people around the world pain tribute to the actually recognizing her and then rallying behind the quite allow women to watch football in stadiums in iran daniel here on twitter echo and some of that you said jasmine he says to be honest people arent necessarily hesitant to speak out on this issue i mean it depends where in the world you happen to be though this man has been brought up many times since the well cup qualifying round a few years ago and women have been fighting for their right to attend the matches in person for decades now i reading i also want to show you what it looks like when women are brave enough to actually go into the stadium so im going to show you this video where women are actually just discussing themselves they said we are not going to be stopped from going into incredible. Stadium so we can actually have a look and see what that looks like this take a look. Thank you thank god thank you thank. Thank you thank you thank you thank you translators rushing talks for us where they are they chanting i want to be there. You know its amazing because i was at the stadium actually means Freedom Freedom and when im just getting to them im just getting goosebumps because im thinking of how wrong the fear is that theyre not allowing women and i also wanted to make a really important point women have been fighting for this project and it is because of the women inside iran and pressure International Pressure from International Forums like the like the u. N. That has resulted in iran you know usually relaxing the ban so there has been movement on this its just really important that people follow through and doesnt allow a temporary relaxation of the ban so for example on october 10th iran is hosting a world qualifier match it called on iran to allow women and once that it would its really important that the spotlight remains on the country and its important that we amplify the voices of people inside the country that are speaking out against this women and men lots of men condemned this policy after the tragic death of our one former football coach said that one day there would be a stadium named after her so there is so much momentum right now and there is no reason to keep the ban there as shareen said women have gone in and out and theyve been fine its just up to the iranian government to make the move let me just share with you. Tweet from a little while ago. A correspondent shes often on the string talking about a romp takes as she says this picture here of rons top Football Team. Holding a minutes of silence before trying in on as the blue gallon just. Just hold tight for a 2nd. Or 2 over hoping that theyll do go back a little more before these kind of deal doesnt want their. Money back to you in the bank yes i mean so this doesnt feel like its a vest is female a war thats happening it feels like theres a lot of support and a lot of love coming from the teams themselves in the mens teams of i supportive of the women found take well absolutely i think that when youve got cocaptains of the team and speaking out about this and public pressers i think this is very important that we recognize the solidarity and the support from men and i mean the crux of it is that women have been on the front lines of this movement because it affects some of the most but the solidarity from the team itself is really important even if theyre all the Football Club issued a tweet after sahar died and they were very very very impactful and very intentional in what they were saying that she had died because she was a she was a fan of theirs and i think we need to Pay Attention to that said its not its really. Its important to point out that you know speaking out when issues like this get very big and kind of international is dangerous in iran you can be summoned to court and prosecuted for speaking out against policies that the state backs but so many men did do that teams former soccer players stars former soaker coaches former state t. V. Broadcasters and a reformist parliamentarian a woman said that were all responsible for the death of the heart and all women that burn under the policies of discrimination so there was very strong condemnation there is no question that this is not a policy thats backed by a majority. Of people and the other issue is that this is not a political issue as the iranian government has made it its a human rights that you its a civil rights issue but what happens is that those that want to you know oppose it referred to a plot by you know an enemy government thats trying to build on iran doesnt people might be watching or something you want its just women wanting to go and see football i dont even like football whats the big deal but this is a question about women and the public life in a wrong that more so the people get it its not just about football its so much male exactly and that might be why there is such a strong pushback on the part of ultra conservatives inside iran they want to keep iran iranian women in basically socalled traditional roles inside the home and they see allowing women to participate in public life in such a you know expressive and overt and joyous way as a threat to the fundamental basis of the Islamic Republic as it is right now thats what im really rich its very bizarre because on the one hand you see it on iranian women in sport that are being amplified and supported so on the one hand they want to go forward with momentum in sports and in movement because you cant argue that women who compete publicly in football around the world are a typical stay home narrative but on the other hand what have women at home not having access so theres theres all these type of very you know very horrible draconian narratives that are clashing with where they want to go and how they want to be seen because iranian women get congratulated publicly on twitter when something of a major tournament so it really doesnt make any sense and as jasmine seign its like we cant and i want to just touch back on this because as somebody whos covered the story for like years before it went mainstream there was a you know there are temporary relaxation. On this ban like we saw during the mens world cup in 2018 women did go watch the match against spain so i think we see that but what were looking for is consistency here were looking for consistency in terms of baby steps but not one step forward and 3 whats like the iranian spokesperson said actually said oh were going to tackle this step by step we have to go forward. I was assuming that he was thinking baby steps forward but youre thinking maybe steps back. Let me go back to hall which is f. C. Which is the Football Team. Love she was a huge change sad they said here on the tweet i said its a little bit early but i want to put this out here because were talking about what can we do about this how do you fight the iranian women be fighting for this for so many decades how Football Team of a Football Team says we all cowlitz the likeness of george when he heard about the death of a young woman who loved to go and watch football history response was banned from world cup qualifying that is the only right thing to do and then another member of our community had another suggestion it was really pointing fingers at the phone and the lack of action have a listen have a look. Like any other iranian woman was deprived from her basic rights rights like wearing what she was or going to the stadium for her killed herself but is an accessory to her death as well as restrictive in human rules of the iranian government who for paris to rule against are all types of protected. Decided to neglect the systematic suppression of iranian women who photos to stand with the regime which practices gender apartheid in 21st century if we could do more. Yes and i just could i just make one important point here you know back to the tweet the person was saying whats the big deal its just a Football Game you know when most of that wasnt a tweet that was me im just thinking the people in this may be thinking well its its just going to see football whats what what is the logic implication i wanted to make sure that everybody understood what the Bigger Picture was here its important to know that women have really been at the forefront of a lot of civil rights movements in iran and especially in the recent years and so when rosa parks went and sat on the bus and refused to sit in the back you could say whats the big deal she could just sit in the back but she was really speaking about something much bigger and this is exactly that the women that are you know risking everything to go into the stadium of course they want to enjoy football but theyre trying to take back something that was theirs a right of theirs that they had before the revolution she when we asked if they would join us and they said you should look at statements that weve already put online and let me send you that statement again so this is what they sent us and theyve been holding their position about the rules of the regulations one line really stood out for us as a team the 1st position is clear women have to be allowed into football stadiums in iran or football matches but what action are you seeing does a young woman have to die before they do anything whats how and im like i mean i love that they say their position is for im unclear of the kids in those from unclear and totally pliable i mean gianni infantile was actually it that they had on derby between pursed up a list and a circle all last year and march of 2019 when over 35 women and young girls as young as 13 were dressing up as men to enter the stadium and were detained so im sorry he was actually on the premises and didnt comment about it until he flew back to switzerland so your position is not clear you have not been firm you have actually been pandering and profiting where you can because make no mistake about it football is a generates a. A lot of money and not only for you but the Asian Football Confederation the umbrella under which goes under 55. 00 and then it on the the Football Federation falls under there so youre not from if you want to be from not just paper but other organizations can say you know what were not going to were going to actually suspend your privileges to play under a fee for sanction because of the fact that your and your literally die aggressively opposed to our statute the charters what women are allowed to do and it is gender apartheid and its unacceptable so the states misstatements and the meetings that fight to muster more are the secretary general has added there they dont lead to anything its time for action it was time for action many many years ago its getting to a crisis situation now and i wonder if this sounds like actions. Infant tina speaking off to the poor girl died and people are demanding that among some answers this is what he said reece womens football in iran if womens football representatives here from iran and this is great but we need iranian women says where women as well to be able to attend the mens game. We need to push for the. Respect but in a strong and forceful way we cannot wait any more. Just thinking about possibilities and ways forward baby steps forward rather the baby set spat what cost suggest here im going to give this one to you jasmine they shouldnt own women but they should make a separate space for men and women in the stadiums so everyone can enjoy. Just one thing its not possible can you do that straight away of course and it has already happened. 2 years ago i think it was the world cup back then or allowed women in and they let them sit in special sections in the stadiums so its already happened its not very difficult to take these steps thats just kind of a matter of seizing on the momentum and pushing back against people inside the country that use a very convenient excuse that this is international you know its an International Pressure and are completely ignoring the people on the ground their own citizens from all kinds of different classes and religions speaking up and saying that they absolutely dont support this policy i dont think theres any share this for you because people are watching this dont go to my computer because its very ugly but ive got to read this out for you from you because people are watching this conversation and. Sometimes the players need to cut into this they need to stop playing and taken the supporting women as fans just to show that they care about all of the fans male or female taking and what you think of that i mean i think thats appropriate in a north american context and to be very honest with you we have to keep in mind its important as jasmine said to take the lead from people in it on the outside and that happens a lot from a global perspective but i think what the players have done is very very important symbolically theyve spoken out this spoken out like i said in post much pressers this is the way its going to be done showing that solidarity on social media and also just want to add about infantile because it makes my blood boil you cant hide behind the progress of womens football hide behind how complicit you are for the deck the possible. Porter it doesnt work like that in fact you know doesnt get to claim you know winning on womens football in the world and then actually help the suppression of women and on. Jasmine thank you so much for talking about this this sad subject but im hoping that they may be progress after this conversation and many of the conversations happening right now listening to this show we have catch a catch it ends with this thoughts discrimination isnt on the treatment someones dignity everyone should be treated equal absolute respect thank you for watching thank you guests us in the next time. One in 3 brazilian women is a victim of Domestic Abuse it seems every day a woman dies and it just becomes a statistic but some of broken away from the cycle of violence its not easy to move you have to ask for help and inspire others to time their lives around i called the straw hat program the dream program my life changed after the course it gave me opportunities for my business women make change on aljazeera. New leaders place children in this refugee camp the latest victims of the unending sectarian violence in Central African republic among them are survivors of unspeakable violence 10 year olds the work his mother is dead her father is gone killed because they were christian by their own muslim neighbors this is the least you home an overcrowded refugee camp of 23000 people surrounded by armed militia groups celine wants answers she says she wants to be asking the questions and so we traded places inch took the microphone will we find peace how can we make the violence stop when will i be able to return Home International trade with your support of having free trade would not change your money or the japanese or chinese dogs or germany controversial immigration policies that you want to as a well founded fear of persecution should be able to calm as well from a letter from syria has closed the door to Syrian Refugees like the buffalo mehdi hasan goes head to head with syria trump advisor Stephen Moore this year the trump deficit a trillion dollars budget i will not to reelect on the front while no im not i sat in on aljazeera. Hello im Barbara Starr in london these are the top stories on aljazeera there have been mass rallies and violent clashes between protesters and police in hong kong on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist china police used to live rounds of ammunition and one person is reported to be in Critical Condition after being shot its the 1st injury from a live round in nearly 4 months of protests across the territory it around has more now from hong kong. The police had warned the choose day would be very dangerous it was pitched battles carried on into the night with protesters defying repeated Police Warnings for people to stay off the streets even diners