Darya Safai

Darya Safai in 2023

Darya Safai (Farsi: دریا صفایی) (born 7 April 1975) is an Iranian-born Belgian author, human rights activist and politician.

Quotes

• I grew up in the religious dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mine and many of my generation’s is a bitter story of discrimination and oppression under the veil of Sharia. As if the wings we used to have have been clipped to make sure we would never be able to spread them and fly away.
  • "Speech at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy" (2016)

• To exercise and watch sport events are the basic rights of every citizen, regardless of gender or race. The fact that all women except for Iranians can attend stadiums inside Iran is a great insult to Iranian women. Yes. Foreign women can attend stadiums inside Iran! The Iranian and Saudi Arabian women are the only women throughout the world who are prevented from entering stadiums, with the difference that Iranian women have had the right for several generations and have enjoyed it.
  • "Speech at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy" (2016)

• The fight for equal rights corrodes Islamism to the core of its existence and will eventually overthrow it because equal rights for women are incompatible with an Islamic state structure. A fight for women’s rights is a fight against extremism, better and more efficient than any army. I am confident that the fight for women’s rights in Islamic countries and beyond can halt the lethal spiral of violence.
  • "Speech at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy" (2016)

• I know what it is to live as an oppressed Iranian woman. Now that I live in freedom, it gives me the strength and power to struggle for the rights of Iranian women whose voices are muted.
  • "Darya Safai: The Story Behind The Iranian Woman Forced To Take Down Her Banner At The Olympics" (2016)

• Young Iranians should keep on fighting to gain their rights back. They should never give up, even when the road is long and exhausting. If you keep fighting, there will be a day that change will arrive.
  • "Darya Safai: The Story Behind The Iranian Woman Forced To Take Down Her Banner At The Olympics" (2016)

• I can be brief, we accept no obligation to actively bring them back if that means returning their parents as well. Those men and women decided to leave for Syria and turn against our most fundamental norms and values and even chose to fight actively against them. They committed the most horrific acts imaginable. Such people are no longer welcome in our society, let alone that we let the taxpayer pay for their return. All options must be exhausted to prevent these parents from earning their ticket to freedom thanks to their children.
  • "Debate under urgent procedure: International obligations concerning the repatriation of children from war and conflict zones" (2020)

• In the West we have come a long way to obtain the achievements we can now enjoy. These achievements, such as gender equality, can be threatened by the practice of religion in the workplace. Faith is a personal matter, you should keep it to yourself.
  • "Opening of the sitting No. 5" (2020)

• In my dreams sometimes I am back in Iran. Even in the 21st century, they still have the “morality police”, who will come to me if my headscarf is not worn properly. I wake up from my nightmares and think: “Oh, I am safe.” But I carry a heavy load because I am not free until those people are free.
  • "The women forced out of Iran: ‘Every act of resistance is a spark of hope’" in The Guardian (18 March 2023)