Female MPs in Iran sue over ‘no place for donkeys’ slur

Female deputies in Iran are suing a conservative male colleague after he declared in a video that parliament was no place for “donkeys and women”.

Nader Ghazipour’s comments during an election campaign meeting last month have gone viral on social media. “Parliament is not a place for foxes, donkeys and women,” he said before a cheering crowd.

If women are elected, male colleagues “might do things to them and disgrace you”, he said. Ghazipour was elected last month in Orumiyeh, a Turkish-speaking province.
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A leading female deputy, Fatemeh Rahbar, told the state news agency IRNA that female MPs – along with a number of men – have filed complaints with Iran’s prosecutor general, parliament’s supervision committee and the house speaker, Ali Larijani.

“There has been an accusation against women, and Mr Ghazipour must be held responsible,” she said.

Ghazipour sent an apology through mediators, but the plaintiffs won’t withdraw their lawsuit, Rahbar said. “His words have gone public through the media and gone viral inside and outside Iran.” He should come out and explain himself, she said.

Ghazipour’s comments were an insult not only to women but to the entire parliament, Rahbar, herself a member of the conservative camp in Iranian politics, told the reformist daily Shargh.

Faced with the threat of lawsuits, Ghazipour has said he was not referring to women in the Islamic republic’s parliament or to female candidates in his own constituency. “I didn’t mean all women. There were two ladies running from our city in this election. You can ask them my opinion of women,” he told KhabarOnline.

“If elections were held again right now, I would win twice as many votes,” Ghazipour added.

According to reports, unknown assailants beat up the journalist who posted the video, Hamed Atayi, in front of his wife and child on the street last week.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/10/iran-female-mps-file-complaints-nader-ghazipour-donkeys-slur