Homa Hoodfar ( fa, هما هودفر) is a Canadian-Iranian sociocultural anthropologist and professor emerita of anthropology at
Concordia University in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
.
[ While she is most widely known for her work on Western perceptions of the veil or hijab in its varied forms, meanings, and historical uses, much of her work has focused on women's roles in public life in Muslim societies, with particular attention to how religious symbols and interpretations have been variously used to support and repress women's status.
]
Detention in Iran
In February 2016, Hoodfar traveled to her home country of Iran, primarily for personal reasons but also for her academic research. In March, a day before Hoodfar was to leave to join family in London, members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
(IRGC) raided the flat where she was staying, confiscating her belongings and three passports. After three months of Iranian intelligence services regularly summoning her for questioning, Iranian authorities arrested her in early June. At that point, Hoodfar's family went to the news media to inform the public of her ordeal in Iran. She was indicted on charges of "dabbling in feminism and security matters" by Iran, sources close to the government singling out her work with Women Living Under Muslim Laws
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) is an international solidarity network established in 1984. It does academic and advocacy work in the fields of women's rights and secularism, focusing on the impact on women of laws inspired by Muslim reli ...
.[
]
Psychological torture
During her 112-day imprisonment in Evin Prison, she was put under psychological torture by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard during dozens of interrogations. She was threatened with death. In an interview with CBS News in her first interview after being released on September 26, 2016, she also said: "I was prepared I might face a few years in prison, or as they said 15 years, maybe I would never be released."
See also
* List of foreign nationals detained in Iran
References
External links
We Must Pressure Iran to Release Canadian Academic Homa Hoodfar
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
, 26 June 2016, by Paul Hoggart
Free Homa website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoodfar, Homa
Living people
Concordia University faculty
Iranian prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of Iran
Canadian anthropologists
Canadian women scientists
Iranian women scientists
Canadian women anthropologists
Iranian women anthropologists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Inmates of Evin Prison
Iranian emigrants to Canada