“Our children should not inherit silence from us.”

- Nasrin Sotoudeh

This Women’s History Month we share Nasrin Sotoudeh’s story as a model of unwavering resolve for justice, equality and humanity, even when the material conditions make such demands appear to be “a lost cause.”

In an eight by thirteen cell, with no windows and a short ceiling, fourteen women share twelve beds in one of the most dangerous and unsanitary women’s prisons in Iran. One of these women is Nasrin Sotoudeh.

Thoughtful, courageous and passionate human rights attorney, mother and wife, Nasrin was sentenced to 148 lashes and 37 years in prison in 2018, in part for defending women who protested the compulsory hijab by publicly removing their headscarves. Remaining committed to her belief in human rights and dignity for all people, Nasrin has defended the most marginalized in Iran - women, children, political prisoners, religious and ethnic minorities, artists, unemployed and people facing the death penalty. 

This is not her first time in prison. In 2010, in the aftermath of violent confrontations between riot police and demonstrators opposing Iran’s presidential election results in 2009, Nasrin was sent to Evin Prison for representing human rights defenders including Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize recipient. At this time, Nasrin was put in solitary confinement for two and a half months, yet she continued to fight from prison, engaging in a hunger strike and refusing to wear the chador, a compulsory head to toe covering for female prisoners. In 2013, when released from prison, she tirelessly continued her work to advance human rights. She would not be silenced.

Even now, as she battles multiple serious health issues, she advocates on behalf of women prisoners at the risk of her own life.

At CERI, we know first hand what it takes to remain resolute even when others say it is “a lost cause.” Fifteen years ago, it was the voice of one woman in our community who dared to refuse the narrative of  Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide being  "a lost cause " and  began to fiercely advocate for them. The outcome of this advocacy is now an inclusive, diverse and intergenerational community that is healing, growing and thriving at CERI.

From women workers who marched for better working conditions and voting rights through New York City in 1857 and 1908 in the face of police brutality, inspiring International Women’s Day, to Nasrin and many more women throughout history and today, who refuse to be silent in the face of injustice, we see you, we celebrate you, and we are in the struggle with you because united we are stronger.

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