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Shirin Ebadi Wearing a Hijab. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://www.writespirit.net/authors/shirin-ebadi/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].

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A political activist, former judge, lawyer and founder of defenders of human rights centre in Iran. She was awarded the Nobel peace prize for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially those of women, children and refugees.

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Why Shirin Ebadi is a 'truely radical change agent'

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Why Shirin Ebadi is a 'truely radical change agent'

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A truly radical change agent is someone who not only develops their own worldviews for the better, but also influences a positive change on other people’s worldviews, and I believe that Shirin fits this description very well. Shirin is an Iranian political activist, lawyer and former judge. Shirin founded the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights, especially for women, children and refugees (wikipedia, 2020). Shirin is a truly radical change agent for many reasons. One of which, is the fact that she challenged what was considered ‘normal’, and wanted equality between genders. It was normal for women to exist only to raise large families and tend to household duties. However, Shirin believed that women should have an education, more work opportunities and a better purpose in life, and she led many women in Iran to fight for their rights. Another reason is that Shirin didn’t feel the urge to be in power, and make men less equal than women. She wanted everyone to be treated the same despite gender, and wanted nothing other than to improve the quality of women’s lives to match those of men.

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How is Shirin open-minded rather than closed-minded

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How is Shirin open-minded rather than closed-minded

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Shirin had a very open mind to the life of her and other women. She saw that there is so much more potential to her life, however, it was limited by the Iranian government, so she sought to change that.

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Shirin challenged the ‘status quo’ by emphasizing to Iran that women are worthy of better jobs and a better life. She encouraged women to see the outside world, and see what is out there for them. She changed the minds of women and men to see that women are no less of a person and should have just an important and fair purpose to life. Shirin actually grew up in Iran before women’s rights were lost (wikipedia, 2020). So, for Shirin, she didn’t challenge what was always normal, but she fought to have back what was right to allow other young women to live the life she did - as an equal.

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What risks Shirin took in order to improve the wellbeing of others

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What risks Shirin took in order to improve the wellbeing of others

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Shirin took many risks in her work. It was illegal to challenge the Iranian government in such a way that she did. She was sent to prison for three weeks for challenging government officials, and was also sentenced to 5 years in prison for “disturbing public opinion”, however, that sentence was later dropped after she fought against it successfully (wikipedia, 2020). Numerous times, she was barred from practising law, and almost lost her job. Shirin worked strongly for the wellbeing of others, and worked to make change.

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How Shirin has worked for the transformation of a situation rather than controlling and demanding conformity

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How Shirin has worked for the transformation of a situation rather than controlling and demanding conformity

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Shirin never demanded power in order to make a change happen, or lower the life quality of men. She simply wanted equality between both genders.

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As previously mentioned, Shirin challenged the government quite a few times, which would’ve angered them. Doing this almost cost Shirin her job on numerous occasions.

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Shirin's worldview compared to the worldview of her religion

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Shirin's worldview compared to the worldview of her religion

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What I find most inspiring about Shirin and how she affected my worldview

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What I find most inspiring about Shirin and how she affected my worldview

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I found it incredibly inspiring how Shirin continued to fight for what she believed was right despite the fact that the government was constantly challenging her. She never gave up hope, and strongly held by and was led by her worldview of equality. She wanted nothing other than women to be not any lower or higher than men - equal. Shirin wanted young women to grow up able to achieve an education like herself and the people before her did. I believe that Shirin changed my worldview in the way that I now know that some things are worth fighting for, and that you should never give up on what you believe is right. Shirin wanted people to see the potential of women in higher positions too, which was proven possible by her numerous efforts in protests. I now know that anyone can make a change if you try hard enough, even if it takes years.

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In what way Shirin was less than perfect

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In what way Shirin was less than perfect

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There was a controversy around Shirin for a few years, calling her a feminist who was trying to get women in a higher power than men. However, this has never been confirmed if it was her true plan as she never got to the point in her career to be able to achieve this. Many people have gathered evidence in the fact that she treated men unfairly in court, labelling them as guilty without much evidence against them. However, this again cannot be confirmed, it is only speculated, as those people may or may not have been actually guilty.

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Websites

Wikipedia. (2020). Shirin Ebadi. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirin_Ebadi [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].

Nobel Prize. (2003). Shirin Ebadi - Biographical. [online] Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2003/ebadi/biographical/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].

Wikipedia. (2020). Women's rights in Iran. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Iran#Khomeini's_era [Accessed 30 Feb. 2020].

Photos

Nobel Peace Prize (2003). Shirin Ebadi. [image] Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2003/ebadi/biographical/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].

Shirin Ebadi Wearing a Hijab. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://www.writespirit.net/authors/shirin-ebadi/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].

Videos

Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003. (2011). [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/HW8m3oMRK4I [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].

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Shirin Ebadi - Nobel Peace Prize Interview

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Shirin Ebadi - Nobel Peace Prize Interview

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I chose to display this video, as Shirin speaks of what she believes is important and what drives her every day.

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Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003

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Shirin wasn’t influenced by any sort of faith or religion, as her religion actually believed that women weren’t worth as much as men. However, she still displayed her beliefs in the religion and never gave up on it - she believed it could be fixed. Shirin was actually influenced by her upbringing and father. Her father, Mohammad Ali Ebadi, had strong feminist views, and encouraged Shirin to fight for her rights. Her father was one of the first lecturers in commercial law. Shirin had two sisters and a brother who were all highly educated while she was growing up. She wanted to have a good education like the rest of her family, and worked to eventually gain a place at the Faculty of Law in 1965 (nobelprize, 2003). Shirin officially began to judge in 1969. All was well, until 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeini was now in power. Women’s roles were now limited, and were told that the only important role women could pursue was raising large families and tend to household duties. Women’s centres and childcare centres were closed, and women were restricted to certain fields of work, such as midwifery, teaching and law. Shirin Ebadi said, “I and other female judges were dismissed from our posts and given clerical duties. They made me a clerk in the very court I once presided over. We all protested. As a result, they promoted all former female judges, including myself, to the position of ‘experts’ in the Justice Department.” However, Shirin believed that they still deserve better. Shirin then retired early and began to write several books and had many articles published in Iranian journals. Finally, in 1992, Shirin obtained a lawyer’s licence and set up her own practice. She then defended many cases to do with child abuse and several journalists or their families who were accused or sentenced in relation to freedom of expression. Shirin also later became the co-founder of the Association for Support of Children’s Rights in 1995 and provided various stages of free tuition in children’s rights and human rights (ibid.).

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I chose this photo as it displays Shirin's religion and adds to how she still stuck by the religion when she doubted it.

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Nobel Peace Prize (2003). Shirin Ebadi. [image] Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2003/ebadi/biographical/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].

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Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003. (2011). [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/HW8m3oMRK4I [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].