ژورنال سایت خبری سیاسی ژورنال
English Journal is published on Fridays
PDF-English Journal-1 August 2025-No25
Zahra Eftekharezadeh, founder of the Athena Safe House, told Ham-Mihan newspaper that “۶۵ to 70 per cent of women who have experienced violence report it occurring during pregnancy,” adding, “this is often the most brutal form of domestic abuse.”
I read the news and I don’t know how to contain my fury and sorrow. I see in my mind a procession of women – bearing life, bearing the continuity of humankind. Women who share a profound and ineffable bond with the being inside them, the one nourished by their body, so that by giving birth they might help us see the world more beautifully and love humanity more deeply. Woman and life become intertwined. The world becomes more meaningful, and compassion finds a more delicate, elegant form.
A pregnant woman is, perhaps, worthy of even more love. Is she not a vessel in which an entire world is forming – a world as marvellous as the birth of a star, a galaxy, or the unfurling of a flower? Or perhaps more simply: a droplet forming from the condensation of mist on a leaf in the heart of a forest. All of it, life. And this human life begins in the womb of a woman, formed from her very being.
And then comes the nightmare. Rape during pregnancy. Beatings. Punches to the head, the face. A mother’s hands clutching her belly to shield the child inside – what matters to her is the protection of the foetus. And so she endures.
The direct culprit is the man who beats her. But we cannot dismiss him as a mere beast. Male animals, after all, protect their young and their mates. Perhaps the fault lies in human nature itself – more savage, more bloodthirsty, more merciless than any other creature. But is that truly human nature? No. Zahra Eftekharezadeh says: “Women have told us that during pregnancy they can’t run or fight back the way they used to, because they must protect both themselves and the foetus. This heightened vulnerability makes them even more dependent on external support. Without it, they are left in a position of deep powerlessness.”
This tree of violence is watered by religion and the ruling system. If not for them, the situation could be changed at once – and no woman would have to endure violence. To save humanity – to save women, children, and ourselves – we must arm ourselves with the weapon of humanity.
Editor: Patty Debonitas
For donations, please contact Keyvan Javid
WhatsApp: 00447933237052
E-mail: keyvan.javid1@gmail.com
journalfarsi.com/english/
