The “Advocating for Others” course will teach ordinary Iranians how critical their voices are in advocating for political prisoners. Our previous iteration of this course in 2018, titled “Advocating for the Persecuted Other,” proved incredibly popular, with over 300 participants. This course, however, is updated and tailored to be as current and relevant as possible with regard to political prisoners and unjust government practices. It is designed for Iranian civil society leaders who are motivated to address the persecution of and the systematic discrimination against minorities in Iranian society. The course brings to light the various state and non-state, ideological and sociological, and legal and economic causes of persecution in Iran. It will explore the role of allies and allyship in helping to protect and advocate for the rights of others suffering imprisonment and human rights abuse, with examples taken from case studies produced by the Tavaana project. Students will explore skills and strategies to help those unjustly detained, such as through messaging and storytelling via social media; direct assistance to prisoners’ families; outreach to traditional media outlets; building protection networks; and nonviolent civil disobedience to unjust laws and social norms. It will equip civic leaders with the means to forge civic movements to bring LGBT/allies, women/men, secular/religious, Sunni/Shia, and others together to fight in coalition for the rights of those systematically denigrated under Iranian law.
