Beginning
In the fall of 2000, nearly a decade after I began my legal practice defending victims of violence in the courts of Iran, I faced the ten most harrowing days of my entire career. The work I typically handled — battered children, women hostage to abusive marriages, political prisoners — brought me into daily contact with human cruelty, but the case at hand involved menace of a different order.
Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work.
Known as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf of Canadian photojournalist, Zahra Kazemi — raped, tortured, and murdered in Iran — Dr. Ebadi offers a vivid picture of the struggles of one woman against the system. The book chronicles her childhood in a loving, untraditional family before the Revolution in 1979 that toppled the Shah, her marriage and her religious faith, as well as her life as a mother and lawyer battling an oppressive regime in the courts while bringing up her girls at home.
Outspoken and controversial, Shirin Ebadi is a fascinating women. She rose quickly to become the first female judge in the country, but when the religious authorities declared women unfit to serve as judges, she was demoted to clerk in the courtroom she had once presided over. She eventually fought her way back as a human rights lawyer, defending women and children in politically charged cases that most lawyers were afraid to represent. She has been arrested and been the target of assassination, but through it all has spoken out with quiet bravery on behalf of the victims of injustice and discrimination and become a powerful voice for change, almost universally embraced as a hero. Shirin Ebadi won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Her memoir is a gripping story and a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the political and religious upheaval in our world.
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