Get to know our dedicated team working to uplift the voices of migrant women and create a more diverse and inclusive media.
I’m Fereshte, a MSc Digital Marketing student at the University of the West of Scotland. I live in Glasgow, Scotland, and I feel incredibly lucky to be here. Despite only being here for six months since September 2023, I already feel deeply connected to this vibrant place.
I’m originally from Tabriz, Iran. Tabriz is a northwestern city with a rich history, situated at the heart of Iran’s Azerbaijani provinces. The language spoken there is Azerbaijani Turkish, which, although not an official language, is strongly maintained by the native speakers.
I grew up in Tehran, and life became increasingly challenging as I was growing up. As a teenager, I faced harsh discrimination against women imposed by the gender apartheid of the Islamic regime in Iran.
Many people are familiar with the aftermath of the engineered revolution in Iran in 1979; extremist Islamic groups seized control and made life a torturous ordeal for many women. One of their initial actions was to ban women from singing solo. Afterwards, a compulsory Islamic dress code was enforced, and men who supported the regime felt emboldened to harass and assault women who didn’t adhere to their fabricated rules.
My sister, the singer Farzane Zamen, inspired me during my teenage years. She never gave up on her dreams of being a musician and a singer-songwriter. Despite the ban, she worked hard to do what she was passionate about, grow, and achieve a significant result by producing more than 30 songs published as studio albums and single tracks. She’s a powerful feminist woman, and I look up to her for inspiration to be strong in my own life.
In this month, when we celebrate women’s achievements, I wish every woman to achieve what she wants and live the life they deserve.
Fereshte Zamen