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Woman arrested in Iran - for riding bikes

Human rights campaigners say new law reflects increased mysogyny under mullahs' rule...

A group of women who were riding bikes to take part in a cycling event in northern Iran have been arrested for breaking a recently enacted law banning females from cycling in public.

The arrests happened as some of the women in the group raised objections to the law after they were stopped by security forces, according to human rights group the National Council of Resistance if Iran (NCRI).

It said that members of the group were made to sign a pledge stating that they would not ride a bicycle in public again.

The incident took place on Tuesday in the city of Marivan in the country’s Kurdistan Province, with the women planning on riding from the city’s Stadium Square to Zaribar Lake.

Farideh Karimi of the NCRI said: "Suppression of women has been a tenet of the mullahs' regime from its outset. This latest restrictive measure shows that misogyny is being stepped up under Hassan Rouhani's administration.

She added: "With each passing day the mullahs' regime is further infringing on the basic rights of women which they had fought hard to obtain."

In 2013, Saudi Arabia lifted a total ban on women riding bikes in public, but subject to very tight restrictions. They are now permitted to ride bikes in recreational areas but have to be accompanied by a male relative and wear the abaya, which covers the body from head to toe.

Elsewhere in the Middle East however, the right to ride bikes has become tied into campaigns for securing greater rights for women generally.

In 2014, the film Afghan Cycles was released, charting the struggles of the war-torn country’s national women’s cycling team and tying their story in with the wider issues of women’s rights there.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, the We Will Ride Bikes initiative launched on Facebook in 2013 by Girls' Revolution aimed to encourage women to ignore the "unladylike" social stigma that riding bikes carries in the country.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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18 comments

Avatar
Jimnm | 7 years ago
1 like

She should be ashamed of herself! Riding in public on the streets of Iran. It's disgraceful  3 Lol  (weirdos)

Avatar
Yorky-M | 7 years ago
2 likes

I didn't think cyclists were closed minded. Thought the freedom of riding and travelling and exploring , enhanced what it is to be human. 

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Edinburgh Festi... | 7 years ago
0 likes

Correction to the above, the film Afghan Cycles was not released in 2014, only the trailer, as backers of the film we know that it is still in production.

You might also be interested to know that the producer of the Afghan Cycles film, Shanon Galpin, gave a key note talk as part of the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling 2015 and will be returning to the speak again in 2017.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn | 7 years ago
6 likes

The UK ain't brilliant but stuff like this reminds us how lucky we are.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Dnnnnnn | 7 years ago
7 likes

Duncann wrote:

The UK ain't brilliant but stuff like this reminds us how lucky we are.

Except for Newport town centre.

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
5 likes

Imagine you're a man born in Iran.......when you're out cycling you can punch all the women you want at roundabouts.

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tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
16 likes

Imagine you were born in Iran or similar. 

 

Such hard luck. Can't do basic sh*t because a bunch of power mad zealots run the show. Too scared to even tell your friends and family that you have doubts about the BS you're fed.

 

Worse, imagine you're gay or lesbian. What a nightmare you'd be living in.

 

This is why I'm okay with immigrants, can't stand the thought of decent folk being trapped in an  oppressive regime. I know for a fact I'd try and flee if it was the other way around. 

Avatar
velo-nh replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
1 like

unconstituted wrote:

This is why I'm okay with immigrants, can't stand the thought of decent folk being trapped in an  oppressive regime. I know for a fact I'd try and flee if it was the other way around. 

If only we had a way to separate the people who are true refugees from the jihadists that sneak in with them.  It sucks that these ladies can't ride bikes in public and something should be done about that in Iran, but it's far worse for those who lost their lives in terror attacks in the same countries that are admitting these refugees.

 

Quote:

Too scared to even tell your friends and family that you have doubts about the BS you're fed.

A day in the life of a German right now.  Comments like mine are now a crime there, and for what?

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to velo-nh | 7 years ago
2 likes

velo-nh wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

This is why I'm okay with immigrants, can't stand the thought of decent folk being trapped in an  oppressive regime. I know for a fact I'd try and flee if it was the other way around. 

If only we had a way to separate the people who are true refugees from the jihadists that sneak in with them.  It sucks that these ladies can't ride bikes in public and something should be done about that in Iran, but it's far worse for those who lost their lives in terror attacks in the same countries that are admitting these refugees.

 

Quote:

Too scared to even tell your friends and family that you have doubts about the BS you're fed.

A day in the life of a German right now.  Comments like mine are now a crime there, and for what?

 

Millions of refugees, only a handful have been terrorists. Less hysteria please.

Avatar
velo-nh replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
1 like

unconstituted wrote:

Millions of refugees, only a handful have been terrorists. Less hysteria please.

 

I live near Boston.  Do you want to know what hysteria is?  It's when there are at least two bombers on the loose that have already killed people and maimed many more.  Horrible graphic images from only miles away.  Authorities telling you to stay in your home, roads closed and barricaded, madmen shooting at cops, civilians, anyone.  That was two sons of immigrant refugees.  One trained by terrorists, the other drawn in by his brother.

There may be a mere "handful" of terrorists sneaking in amongst the refugees, but all it takes is one.  How many people just died in Nice?  84?  That one guy used a truck, which any of us could rent.  A madman used in axe on a train in Germany. 

It's far worse when there's more than one.  They beheaded a priest just a couple/few days ago in France and made people record it on their phones.  The Bataclan and the cafe in Paris.  Orlando, one shooter.  San Bernadino.  Fort Hood, one shooter.  Charlie Hebdo.  The British soldier murdered in the street.  Belgium.  The airport in Istambul.  July 7th.  One terrorist getting into a western nation is one too many.  One person can kill many.  One person can recruit, radicalize, and train others. 

All those victims, would you say they were hysterical as they were being slaughtered?  All the women in Germany assaulted by immigrants, covered up by their government because the facts behind it were too damning, censored by their uncaring authorities.. are they just hysterical?  2000 attacks were documented by the police there, and it wasn't at the hands of German men.  Was it the Netherlands where they tried to blame the rise of assaults against women on drunk locals, only for someone to leak police records that showed that it was the same thing that was going on in Germany?  But it's hysteria.  It has no basis in fact, except when the facts leak out.  Nothing to see here, move along.

The desire for self preservation and the safety of one's family and community is not hysteria.  It's a basic human right, one which our governments are supposed to protect.

Is Francios Hollande hysterical in extending his country's state of emergency several months out?  Doesn't seem like it with the frequency of attacks there.  That could be any western nation.  That could be right outside my window, again.  I don't live in fear of it, but I don't want our nations to do things that would invite additional attacks.

Saying it's just hysteria is a pathetic and weak attempt to gloss over the horrible, haunting loss of life that's plauged our nations lately.

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to velo-nh | 7 years ago
2 likes

velo-nh wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Millions of refugees, only a handful have been terrorists. Less hysteria please.

 

I live near Boston.  Do you want to know what hysteria is?  It's when there are at least two bombers on the loose that have already killed people and maimed many more.  Horrible graphic images from only miles away.  Authorities telling you to stay in your home, roads closed and barricaded, madmen shooting at cops, civilians, anyone.  That was two sons of immigrant refugees.  One trained by terrorists, the other drawn in by his brother.

There may be a mere "handful" of terrorists sneaking in amongst the refugees, but all it takes is one.  How many people just died in Nice?  84?  That one guy used a truck, which any of us could rent.  A madman used in axe on a train in Germany. 

It's far worse when there's more than one.  They beheaded a priest just a couple/few days ago in France and made people record it on their phones.  The Bataclan and the cafe in Paris.  Orlando, one shooter.  San Bernadino.  Fort Hood, one shooter.  Charlie Hebdo.  The British soldier murdered in the street.  Belgium.  The airport in Istambul.  July 7th.  One terrorist getting into a western nation is one too many.  One person can kill many.  One person can recruit, radicalize, and train others. 

All those victims, would you say they were hysterical as they were being slaughtered?  All the women in Germany assaulted by immigrants, covered up by their government because the facts behind it were too damning, censored by their uncaring authorities.. are they just hysterical?  2000 attacks were documented by the police there, and it wasn't at the hands of German men.  Was it the Netherlands where they tried to blame the rise of assaults against women on drunk locals, only for someone to leak police records that showed that it was the same thing that was going on in Germany?  But it's hysteria.  It has no basis in fact, except when the facts leak out.  Nothing to see here, move along.

The desire for self preservation and the safety of one's family and community is not hysteria.  It's a basic human right, one which our governments are supposed to protect.

Is Francios Hollande hysterical in extending his country's state of emergency several months out?  Doesn't seem like it with the frequency of attacks there.  That could be any western nation.  That could be right outside my window, again.  I don't live in fear of it, but I don't want our nations to do things that would invite additional attacks.

Saying it's just hysteria is a pathetic and weak attempt to gloss over the horrible, haunting loss of life that's plauged our nations lately.

 

You really are hysterical. The vast majority of mass shootings/killings are factually carried out by white male nationals born and bred in their home country. Hysterical white men, out on a rampage. See: Why Kids Kill; 2009. As an example.

 

Every day around 80 people are shot dead in the US.

 

Where are your walls of text about that.

 

Calm down and get a grip. Or do you only care about lives when they're taken by them foreigners.

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to velo-nh | 7 years ago
2 likes

velo-nh wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Millions of refugees, only a handful have been terrorists. Less hysteria please.

 

I live near Boston.  Do you want to know what hysteria is?  It's when there are at least two bombers on the loose that have already killed people and maimed many more.  Horrible graphic images from only miles away.  Authorities telling you to stay in your home, roads closed and barricaded, madmen shooting at cops, civilians, anyone.  That was two sons of immigrant refugees.  One trained by terrorists, the other drawn in by his brother.

There may be a mere "handful" of terrorists sneaking in amongst the refugees, but all it takes is one.  How many people just died in Nice?  84?  That one guy used a truck, which any of us could rent.  A madman used in axe on a train in Germany. 

It's far worse when there's more than one.  They beheaded a priest just a couple/few days ago in France and made people record it on their phones.  The Bataclan and the cafe in Paris.  Orlando, one shooter.  San Bernadino.  Fort Hood, one shooter.  Charlie Hebdo.  The British soldier murdered in the street.  Belgium.  The airport in Istambul.  July 7th.  One terrorist getting into a western nation is one too many.  One person can kill many.  One person can recruit, radicalize, and train others. 

All those victims, would you say they were hysterical as they were being slaughtered?  All the women in Germany assaulted by immigrants, covered up by their government because the facts behind it were too damning, censored by their uncaring authorities.. are they just hysterical?  2000 attacks were documented by the police there, and it wasn't at the hands of German men.  Was it the Netherlands where they tried to blame the rise of assaults against women on drunk locals, only for someone to leak police records that showed that it was the same thing that was going on in Germany?  But it's hysteria.  It has no basis in fact, except when the facts leak out.  Nothing to see here, move along.

The desire for self preservation and the safety of one's family and community is not hysteria.  It's a basic human right, one which our governments are supposed to protect.

Is Francios Hollande hysterical in extending his country's state of emergency several months out?  Doesn't seem like it with the frequency of attacks there.  That could be any western nation.  That could be right outside my window, again.  I don't live in fear of it, but I don't want our nations to do things that would invite additional attacks.

Saying it's just hysteria is a pathetic and weak attempt to gloss over the horrible, haunting loss of life that's plauged our nations lately.

 

Christ you really are hysterical. The vast majority of mass shootings/killings are factually carried out by white male nationals born and bred in their home country. Hysterical white males, out on a rampage. See: Why Kids Kill; 2009. As an example.

 

Every day around 80 people are shot dead in the US. Where are your walls of text about that.

 

Calm down and get a grip. Or do you only care about lives when they're taken by them foreigners.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
1 like

unconstituted wrote:

velo-nh wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Millions of refugees, only a handful have been terrorists. Less hysteria please.

I live near Boston.  Do you want to know what hysteria is?  It's when there are at least two bombers on the loose that have already killed people and maimed many more.  Horrible graphic images from only miles away.  Authorities telling you to stay in your home, roads closed and barricaded, madmen shooting at cops, civilians, anyone.  That was two sons of immigrant refugees.  One trained by terrorists, the other drawn in by his brother.

There may be a mere "handful" of terrorists sneaking in amongst the refugees, but all it takes is one.  How many people just died in Nice?  84?  That one guy used a truck, which any of us could rent.  A madman used in axe on a train in Germany. 

It's far worse when there's more than one.  They beheaded a priest just a couple/few days ago in France and made people record it on their phones.  The Bataclan and the cafe in Paris.  Orlando, one shooter.  San Bernadino.  Fort Hood, one shooter.  Charlie Hebdo.  The British soldier murdered in the street.  Belgium.  The airport in Istambul.  July 7th.  One terrorist getting into a western nation is one too many.  One person can kill many.  One person can recruit, radicalize, and train others. 

All those victims, would you say they were hysterical as they were being slaughtered?  All the women in Germany assaulted by immigrants, covered up by their government because the facts behind it were too damning, censored by their uncaring authorities.. are they just hysterical?  2000 attacks were documented by the police there, and it wasn't at the hands of German men.  Was it the Netherlands where they tried to blame the rise of assaults against women on drunk locals, only for someone to leak police records that showed that it was the same thing that was going on in Germany?  But it's hysteria.  It has no basis in fact, except when the facts leak out.  Nothing to see here, move along.

The desire for self preservation and the safety of one's family and community is not hysteria.  It's a basic human right, one which our governments are supposed to protect.

Is Francios Hollande hysterical in extending his country's state of emergency several months out?  Doesn't seem like it with the frequency of attacks there.  That could be any western nation.  That could be right outside my window, again.  I don't live in fear of it, but I don't want our nations to do things that would invite additional attacks.

Saying it's just hysteria is a pathetic and weak attempt to gloss over the horrible, haunting loss of life that's plauged our nations lately.

 

Christ you really are hysterical. The vast majority of mass shootings/killings are factually carried out by white male nationals born and bred in their home country. Hysterical white males, out on a rampage. See: Why Kids Kill; 2009. As an example.

 

Every day around 80 people are shot dead in the US. Where are your walls of text about that.

 

Calm down and get a grip. Or do you only care about lives when they're taken by them foreigners.

Yes, velo-nh is hysterical. A victory for the terrorists.

I live in London and - with around  10 million others who live and work here - manage to get on with life despite much greater possibility of a terror attack than in Boston.

Terrorism is terrible but - like everything else - need to be kept in proportion. 

 

Avatar
velo-nh replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
1 like

unconstituted wrote:

The vast majority of mass shootings/killings are factually carried out by white male nationals born and bred in their home country.

So you want to let the jihadiis keep on killing until they've taken over statistically?  That's a foolish opinion.

 

Quote:

Every day around 80 people are shot dead in the US. Where are your walls of text about that.

It's not relevant to the topic.  I was responding to your opinion on refugees.

 

Quote:

Calm down and get a grip. Or do you only care about lives when they're taken by them foreigners.

Ignorant remark.  Again, not relevant to the topic.  Yes, we have crime.  We don't need to be inviting more into our contries.  Regardless of the state of affairs we're already faced with, you'd want to prevent things from getting worse, would you not?  Oh hey, welcome terrorists because guns and stuff.  No thanks.

 

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to velo-nh | 7 years ago
0 likes
velo-nh wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

The vast majority of mass shootings/killings are factually carried out by white male nationals born and bred in their home country.

So you want to let the jihadiis keep on killing until they've taken over statistically?  That's a foolish opinion.

 

Quote:

Every day around 80 people are shot dead in the US. Where are your walls of text about that.

It's not relevant to the topic.  I was responding to your opinion on refugees.

 

Quote:

Calm down and get a grip. Or do you only care about lives when they're taken by them foreigners.

Ignorant remark.  Again, not relevant to the topic.  Yes, we have crime.  We don't need to be inviting more into our contries.  Regardless of the state of affairs we're already faced with, you'd want to prevent things from getting worse, would you not?  Oh hey, welcome terrorists because guns and stuff.  No thanks.

 

I'm far more worried about being killed by a driver than a terrorist.

The numbers of Muslims killed by terrorists in Syria and Iraq is many orders of magnitude greater than than that. You want to condemn refugees to death rather than let them flee over some tiny perceived threat to you. Yet your post already acknowledges the attacks in Boston were carried out not by immigrants or refugees but by people born in the country.

But hey you focus on hiding behind your walls and not the real threats already in your country.

Avatar
velo-nh replied to wycombewheeler | 7 years ago
1 like

wycombewheeler wrote:

 You want to condemn refugees to death rather than let them flee over some tiny perceived threat to you.

France is seeing terror attacks at a fairly rapid pace now.  That's a tiny perceived threat?  Germany is on the brink of civil war.  Tiny threat?  Turkey just had a military coup to try to keep the nation moving towards a secular system.  Tiny threat?  

Quote:

Yet your post already acknowledges the attacks in Boston were carried out not by immigrants or refugees but by people born in the country. But hey you focus on hiding behind your walls and not the real threats already in your country.

Their parents came in on tourist visa and then claimed asylum.  The older brother went overseas for training and then returned and radicalized his brother.  It's a semantic debate between asylum and entering properly as a refugee, and the fact that the brothers themselves were born here just shows how bad the problem is.  Even with a western education, the brothers still chose to do what they did.  We always hear the people will assimilate, but there's no guaranteeing that, and worse.. even if US authorities paid attention to the warnings from Russia about the brothers, we'd be unable to deport them.  You think this type of thing goes unnoticed by terror groups looking for a way in?

 

You know what would be better for everyone?  Let developed nations find a way to help people in the countries afflicted by civil rights abuses.  So few get out of the country yet everyone thinks taking in refugees solves anything.  It's a feel-good measure that does nothing to help the vast majority that can't get out, and we can't keep the door open forever.  At some point, we run out of money to build more schools, more homes, more everything that a growing population needs.

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to velo-nh | 7 years ago
0 likes

velo-nh wrote:

wycombewheeler wrote:

 You want to condemn refugees to death rather than let them flee over some tiny perceived threat to you.

France is seeing terror attacks at a fairly rapid pace now.  That's a tiny perceived threat?  Germany is on the brink of civil war.  Tiny threat?  Turkey just had a military coup to try to keep the nation moving towards a secular system.  Tiny threat?  

Quote:

Yet your post already acknowledges the attacks in Boston were carried out not by immigrants or refugees but by people born in the country. But hey you focus on hiding behind your walls and not the real threats already in your country.

Their parents came in on tourist visa and then claimed asylum.  The older brother went overseas for training and then returned and radicalized his brother.  It's a semantic debate between asylum and entering properly as a refugee, and the fact that the brothers themselves were born here just shows how bad the problem is.  Even with a western education, the brothers still chose to do what they did.  We always hear the people will assimilate, but there's no guaranteeing that, and worse.. even if US authorities paid attention to the warnings from Russia about the brothers, we'd be unable to deport them.  You think this type of thing goes unnoticed by terror groups looking for a way in?

 

You know what would be better for everyone?  Let developed nations find a way to help people in the countries afflicted by civil rights abuses.  So few get out of the country yet everyone thinks taking in refugees solves anything.  It's a feel-good measure that does nothing to help the vast majority that can't get out, and we can't keep the door open forever.  At some point, we run out of money to build more schools, more homes, more everything that a growing population needs.

 

Germany on the brink of civil war and point scoring over a single case. Using a recent snapshot of events in France to bash the desperate. If you were trying to make yourself sound wildly irrational then you've won.

 

Back to reality, immigrants are the victim of the same sort of radicalisation that we helped ferment on the Middle East which were now experiencing here, though our experience is virtually incomparable to the constant horror many immigrants found themselves in. In fact none of us ever have or will have any negative experience of Islamis radicals first hand. Every Muslim nearly all of us meet are no better or worse than the rest of us.

 

When we've found a way to stabilise the mess we helped create, then we can turn our backs on the stricken.

 

Untill then, less immigrant bashing and dangerous hyperbole. Your characterisation of inmigrants is verging on hate speech.

 

For the record, Anders Breivik was spouting the same sort of nonsense about immigrants and an emerging civil war. Check yourself.

 

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to velo-nh | 7 years ago
1 like

velo-nh wrote:

Germany is on the brink of civil war.   

No it isn't.

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