Prof. Donna Hughes: Women-Led Resistance Units Are Driving Iran’s Next Phase of Defiance

Staff WriterFebruary 25, 2026
Prof. Donna Hughes: Women-Led Resistance Units Are Driving Iran’s Next Phase of Defiance
Professor Emerita of Gender and Women’s Studies Donna M. Hughes

 

Prof. Donna Hughes addresses an international meeting honoring the 2026 International Women’s Day on February 21, 2026
Written by
Shamsi Saadati

Professor Emerita of Gender and Women’s Studies Donna M. Hughes used her published reflections tied to the 2026 International Women’s Day conference held by the Iranian Resistance to frame Iranian women not as symbols of protest, but as the organizers and leaders of a sustained resistance movement.

Writing on the 40th-day memorial period, or Chehelom, Prof. Hughes said supporters of freedom in Iran had transformed mourning into defiance, arguing that families and protesters were turning grief into “energy and rage” rather than retreat. She reiterated a central conference theme — that women’s leadership is decisive in Iran’s struggle — and credited Mrs. Maryam Rajavi with long predicting that the women most oppressed by the regime would become the force that ultimately breaks it.

Prof. Hughes focused especially on the role of Resistance Units, describing women-led networks active across dozens of cities through graffiti, banners, and attacks on regime symbols, while also sustaining morale during protests and organizing behind the scenes. She wrote that women and youth had prepared for years and, once mobilized, helped lead thousands into the streets, often unarmed, under slogans rejecting both monarchy and clerical rule. Even after large demonstrations subsided, Prof. Hughes said the Resistance Units remained active in what she called “the next phase of the Revolution,” driven by women’s leadership and the determination of youth.

The full text of Professor Donna M. Hughes’s article is republished below as distributed in connection with the conference.

Women’s Leadership in Resistance Units in Iran
Today is Chehelom – the 40th day memorial for someone who has died. Traditionally, the day is a time to grieve. In Iran, tens of thousands of friends and families have lost a loved one or a comrade who marched beside them and was killed in a protest last month.

However, the supporters of freedom and democracy in Iran have changed this day into one of defiance. They are transforming their grief into energy and rage. They are standing strong. Not defeated.

Since the end of December, these unarmed protesters are pulling down the Iranian regime with their bare hands.

Years ago, Maryam Rajavi proclaimed that women — the ones the mullahs most oppressed — would rise up and give the regime a death blow.

Women are the leaders of the resistance. Women made the choice to stand up to the regime and defeat misogyny. Misogyny or hatred of women is the defining principle of Islamic fundamentalism, which the mullahs use to control society.

Women participated in the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. They empowered themselves, they rejected all forms of inequality, and proved their competence. They became leaders.

Today, they lead Resistance Units. Across Iran in dozens of cities, they write graffiti on walls, they set fire to regime signs, they throw incendiary devices into police stations. They hang banners from bridges and overpasses that proclaim: “Death to the oppressor, be it the shah or the Supreme Leader.”

For years, behind the scenes, they made plans for the uprising. At the signal, they led tens of thousands of people into the streets.

They marched and chanted to support other protesters, keeping their spirits up and hope alive. Unarmed, they bravely faced the security forces.

Thousands of resistors paid the price of freedom. With dignity and almost unimaginable courage, they said, “We fight, we die. We will take back Iran.”

They are the voice of a generation. They are the result of decades of liberation and emancipatory transformation. They are women and youth who have decided they will not stop until they have freedom.

Although the large protests have ended, the activities of the Resistance Units continue behind the scenes. I am told they are in the next phase of the Revolution.

They have declared: With women’s leadership and the determination of youth,

Freedom will come because ‘we can and we must.’

The full text of Prof. Donna Hughes’ speech at the international conference held on February 21, 2026, follows:

This morning we had a panel on the role of women in achieving freedom for women in Iran. We had 14 speakers from European countries, Canada, and the United States.

The speakers were highly qualified professionals, many attorneys, and had experience in parliaments. As you’ve heard here, many were highly qualified women, and all of them dedicated their lives to achieving justice, especially for women. All of them spoke of their knowledge about Iran and their expertise on the situation of women in Iran.

Almost all the speakers talked about the state of women’s rights in Iran, particularly under the regime of gender apartheid. They presented details of women’s lack of individual rights and the rights of the family.

The lack of rights was often detailed descriptively. There were several speakers who noted the high execution rate of women and violence against women. Some were executed for their activism and some for being involved in domestic violence in which they killed someone out of self-defense.

One of the women clearly talked about the need for accountability [for] atrocities and the need for rule of law. In the absence of internal mechanisms in Iran to create accountability, she then discussed the emphasis on external mechanisms and how we can support those either through monitoring human rights or international human rights law.

All of the speakers discussed women in leadership in the PMOI and NCRI and enthusiastically endorsed Maryam Rajavi and the role she has played in leadership and shaping the ideas of women’s emancipation and empowerment.

Speakers see a strong need for solidarity among women. One woman called for more empathy for women, and she said that with the use of empathy and solidarity, we can work for international cooperation to combat authoritarianism and the absence of rule of law to create more national and international rule of law.

We also heard from a former political prisoner from Iran. She told us that she had suffered three months in solitary confinement and was tortured. She came to realize that we need a critical understanding of freedom based on women’s experience and their rights.

She recognized Maryam Rajavi and all the MEK women for their strength. She said that we need to have more women joining the Resistance Units in Iran because, as she emphasized, “we can and we must.”

Dowlat Norouzi also discussed the aggressive deception of the son of the Shah, Reza Pahlavi. No one else had mentioned that, but she gave a very good summary of the problem that we’re facing with that because of his use of social media and bots on social media.

And finally, we need to call on the world community to acknowledge the Iranian Resistance and the Iranian people’s right to change their leadership. That was probably the most important thing.

Thank you.

Staff WriterFebruary 25, 2026
Arab-Islamic Committee in Defence of Ashraf
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