Amid the growing unrest, Iranian-German, Elnaaz Norouzi believes the ability to speak freely is something women must value and protect, especially at a time when many across the world are still fighting for that basic right. Reflecting on the significance of Women’s Day, the actor says women living in countries that allow freedom of speech must recognise the responsibility that comes with it.
“I think the one thing that’s really important as a woman nowadays is the fact that we live in times where, in most countries, and especially in the country that we live in right now, we have a voice,” she says. “And we can use our voice, and that is something we shouldn’t take lightly. For years and years, and even today in many countries, women are literally fighting to have a voice and to be able to say what they stand for. So when you live in a country like India where there’s freedom of speech and women are allowed to say what they think and what they want, you should be fearless and take that opportunity to create change for the better.”
Born in Iran, Elnaaz has consistently spoken about the situation in her homeland — something that has often invited criticism and backlash. However, she maintains that standing by one’s beliefs matters more than seeking universal approval. “When you’re standing for something you firmly believe in, and you know what you’re standing for is right, then it doesn’t matter how many people oppose you,” she says. “Even the leader of a country never has a hundred per cent of the votes. The whole point of life is that there are so many different types of people in this world with different opinions. Freedom of speech means exactly that.”
For the actor, the issue in Iran is deeply personal, not just because she was born there, but because her family still lives in the country. “I’m not just speaking about what I feel. I’m speaking about what 75 million Iranians are thinkin actually even more than that. I’m trying to be the voice of the voiceless, because in Iran you don’t have a voice. You’re not allowed to speak against the government. The government will kill you. So what I and many other Iranians outside the country are doing is trying to be the voices of those who don’t have one.”
According to the 33-year-old, decades of suppression have prevented people in Iran from expressing themselves openly, making it even more important for those outside the country to highlight what is happening. “For 47 years, voices have been so suppressed and people have been so oppressed that they haven’t been able to speak out,” she says. “Now that we live in an era of social media and have ways to talk about it, it would be irresponsible not to help those voices reach the world.”
While criticism and negative reactions often follow her statements, Norouzi says disagreement is natural. What concerns her more is when people choose to ignore the reality of the situation. “There are a lot of people who disagree with what I say, and it’s fine to disagree with somebody’s opinion,” she says. “But what I think is not right is closing your eyes to what’s happening to humanity. I would love people to open their minds a little and see what is really happening in Iran, because we’re not lying about it.”
Elaborating further, she adds: “I wish to see changes for women there similar to what we see in Western societies, or even in a country like India right now — where a woman is allowed to choose what she wants to wear. In India you’re allowed to wear a burka if you want to, but you’re also allowed to wear shorts on the road if you want to.”
She elaborates, “It’s a long list, I wish for them to be able to have a voice. I wish that child marriage stops. There are many young girls whose parents marry them off to older men. I wish for women to be able to go into football stadiums and watch a match. I wish for women to be able to become judges. I wish for women to have the same rights as men when it comes to inheritance.”
Despite living and working in India, Norouzi says her ties to Iran remain strong. Her family continues to live there, though their identities are not publicly known, something she says is for their safety, given the threats she receives daily. For now, returning home is not possible.
“In a free Iran I will return home. I will return to my country and see my family,” she says. “But then I will come back to my other country, which is India, where I live, where I’m very happy and where I feel very safe, and continue my work here.” Beyond the situation in Iran, Norouzi believes the larger global challenge lies in how society listens to women and acknowledges their experiences.
“One main thing that is important is listening to the pain that women go through,” she says. “I feel like we really play down what women experience, and when they talk about their pain and suffering, people just don’t take it seriously. If we could start believing women, and if everybody makes even a small change with the women in their surroundings, the world will become a better place immediately,” she ends.
