Female Self-Immolation

In this Tavaana webinar series, Iranian author, journalist, and women’s rights activist Parvin Bakhtiarnejad discusses female self-immolation in Iran. She examines the main causes of self-immolation among Iranian women and highlights the regions where it is most prevalent. Having studied and conducted field research on this phenomenon in various Iranian provinces over the course of several years, Ms. Bakhtiarnejad brings her personal insights to bear in investigating this crisis. She also discusses the consequences of self-immolation and the challenges that women face, highlighting the cultural environment as one of the main causes driving this problem.

Parvin Bakhtiarnejad is an Iranian journalist who began her career with the Iran-e Farda publication in 1995. After Iran-e Farda was shuttered by the authorities, she worked with many other newspapers and websites. At the same time, she pursued research projects, publishing her first study on self-immolation among Iranian women in 2001. In 2008, Bakhtiarnejad travelled to the United Nations General Assembly to speak about honor killings in Iran. While in New York, she was also invited to speak about honors killings at Columbia University and female self-immolation in Iran at New York University (NYU).