Senator Payman’s Iranian endorsement lets down millions of Muslim women who live under theocracies

Melbourne academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was held hostage for two years by an Iranian intelligence service.

A specialist in Islamic Studies who went to Iran in 2018 with deep a fascination with the country and respect for its religion, when she speaks about the Tehran regime, her words carry moral weight.

This week Ms Moore-Gilbert publicly rebuked Senator Fatima Payman for portraying Iran as supportive of women. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a theocracy where women who chose not to wear hijabs, or head scarves, risk being detained at any time and arrested. Some have been beaten to death in custody.

An Afghan who arrived in Australia as child and now represents Western Australia, Senator Payman implied criticism of the regime was part of a Western disinformation campaign.

The “incredible place that Iran is, allowing for women to participate in the workforce, to ensure that they have a voice and their voices are heard,” she told an Iranian state TV channel after attending a pro-Iran rally in Sydney.

“They’re involved in the democratic process,” the senator said, “realities that we’re not privy to living here and listening to the propaganda that we receive from very single-sided organisations with a specific agenda.”

Evidence of abuse

Dr Moore-Gilbert rightly described the comments as nonsense, and reminded Senator Payman on X she should know what goes on in Iran, having participated in a Senate inquiry into human rights abuses in the country two years ago.

Those abuses have been catalogued by numerous credible international organisations and media outlets. Last year a United Nations mission concluded Iranian authorities have committed the crime against humanity of persecution on the grounds of gender.

A law is on the books, awaiting implementation, that would impose the death penalty, flogging and prison terms against women who refuse to cover their heads, according to Amnesty International.

The law’s title gives away the objective, which is to subjugate women to subservient status in Iranian society: “Protecting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab.”

Dr Moore-Gilbert said: “The irony of a strong and powerful woman originally from Afghanistan, who fled that country as a refugee and is well aware of the horrific gender apartheid perpetrated there against women and girls, denying that her Iranian sisters face similar challenges just next door. To what end, Senator? Are there really that many votes to be found in cosying up to a brutal authoritarian regime like Iran’s?”

Muslim interests

Senator Payman has not responded publicly to the criticism, neither personally or through the party Australia’s Voice she set up to mobilise the 800,000-strong Islamic community.

Australia’s Muslims deserve strong political representation, and have every right to promote their religious values, practices and social objectives. They are a vibrant and proud community who sometimes feel misunderstood by Australia’s Anglo-dominated institutions, including parliament.

Senator Payman will not help their worthy cause by promoting conspiracy theories or the interests of ayatollahs who spread war across the Middle East and seek Israel’s destruction.

As a community leader with the powerful platform offered by parliament the senator has a responsibility to engage in constructive debate. Instead, in this case, her words have done a disservice to the millions of women who live under oppressive Islamist regimes.