MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release
October 20, 2022

CONTACTS: Hamilton Strategies, [email protected],
Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105,
or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102

Fighting for Freedom in Iran

Expert Panel to Discuss Iranian Women
Who Demand Freedom
while Western Politicians, Feminists, and Media
Ignore their Plight

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mahsa Amini, 22, was beaten to death last month in Iran while in the custody of the “morality” police for wearing an improper head covering. She was killed for having too much hair showing from under her scarf.

Amini’s death sparked mass anti-government protests, the largest since 2009, led mostly by young women in more than 100 cities and towns and even at Evin Prison, the death and torture chamber for political dissidents, which was allegedly set on fire last week by protestors within its walls.

“Support the brave because they fight for their families, communities, and the oppressed,” said Charmaine Hedding, president of The Shai Fund in a Facebook post. “Niloofar Hamedi, a woman journalist, dared to break the news to the world of the death of Mahsa Amini. For reporting on the violence and brutality toward women, she was incarcerated in the notorious Evin Prison.”

Hamedi broke news of Amini’s death on Twitter on September 16 when she posted a photo of the 22-year-old’s parents hugging each other in a Tehran hospital where their daughter was lying in a coma.

After 43 years of brutal oppression, the people of Iran say, “Enough is enough!” Chanting “Death to Khomeini,” these brave women — and the men standing with them — demand an end to the Islamic regime in power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“This is a moment of incredible courage on the part of Iran’s young women,” said Dede Laugesen, executive director for Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC). “One would think women everywhere would take up their cause to stand with them in solidarity. Instead, politicians, the media, and Western feminists have mostly ignored the protests.”

Join STPC on Thursday, October 20, at 4:30 pm ET for the next Save the Persecuted Christians webinar, “Fighting for Freedom in Iran,” to examine the protests, the women of Iran, religious oppression, and the world’s anemic response with a panel of human rights activists and experts.

WHAT: STPC Webinar | Fighting for Freedom in Iran

WHEN: 4:30 – 5:45 pm ET, Thursday, October 20, 2022

WHO:

Moderator:
Frank Gaffney, President & CEO, Save the Persecuted Christians

Panelists:

Charmaine Hedding, President, The Shai Fund

Topic: Brave Women Face Off with a Brutal Regime

Lela Gilbert, Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom and Coalitions Coordinator at Family Research Council (FRC), Co-Author, with Gen. Jerry Boykin and Arielle Del Turco: Heroic Faith: Hope Amid Global Persecution (2022) and Author, Baroness Cox: Eyewitness to a Broken World, 2nd Edition (2021)

Topic: Iran’s women and 300 Iranian Christians Declare Opposition to the Islamic Republic’s Abusive Regime

Juliana Taimoorazy, President, Iraqi Christian Relief Council (ICRC), Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

Topic: Zan, Zendegee, Azadi (woman, Life, Freedom); Is This Really a Revolution?

Faith McDonnell, Director of Advocacy, Katartismos Global; Co-Leader: Anglican Persecuted Church Network and the Global Anglican Fellowship Suffering Church Network; columnist/blogger for the PATHEOS Evangelical Channel, and co-author “Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children,” 2007 Chosen Books

Topic: Generations of Courage and Faith in Iran

Lauren Homer, President, Homer International Law, and Law & Liberty International

Topic: Iran Needs a Secular Inclusive Government

HOW: Register to attend at SaveThePersecutedChristians.org

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To interview representatives of the Save the Persecuted Christians, contact [email protected], Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.