Retired Concordia University professor Homa Hoodfar was only meant to be in Iran for a

few weeks, but shes now being held in a notorious Iranian prison.
Before the 65-year-old Iranian-Canadian woman could return to Canada in March, the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized her passports she holds Canadian, Iranian and Irish
passports along with a computer and iPad, and subjected her to repeated day-long
interrogations about her work and research.
On Monday, the Revolutionary Guard imprisoned her in Evin prison a place associated
with acts of torture, solitary confinement and forced confessions.
But Hoofdars family in Canada has no idea why the sociology and anthropology professor
is being detained or what charges she may be facing.
Shes not political, shes not an activist, Hoodfars niece, Amanda Ghahremani, said.
Hoodfar had spent some time doing research at the countrys parliamentary library in
Tehran but was primarily their on a personal visit, Ghahremani told Global News in
Montreal.
I genuinely believe that, perhaps, her predicament right now is a result of a
misunderstanding or a misinterpretation of what anthropological work is, Ghahremani said
of her aunt.
Hoodfars research, according to her niece, concerns improving the daily lives of women in
the Middle East and Muslim countries particularly those in impoverished or marginalized
communities.

Hoodfar moved to Canada in the early 1990s and began teaching at Concordia.
According to Concordia Universitys website, Hoodfar studied economics at the University of
Tehran, got a masters degree in development studies at the University of Manchester and
her Ph.D. in social anthropology at the University of Kent.
Margie Mendel, an economics professor at Concordia and Hoodfars friend, said Hoodfar is
a dedicated teacher and wonderful pedagogue.
People love her, Mendel told Global News, adding Hoodfar worked 24 hours a day, seven
days a week on her research.
Mendel said Hoodfar isnt militant, but a fervent advocate for gender equality.
She has documented difficult situations [and] violations of womens rights, but she has also
documented, very rigorously, achievements that women are making in different contexts,
through movements and so on.
Throughout her career, Hoodfar has researched and written about a range of issues
including women and politics, reproductive health policies, Islamic dress codes for women
and the political context of womens sports in the Muslim world.
She edited a book called Womens Sport as Politics in Muslim Contexts, published in 2015.

In Muslim majority societies sport has thus emerged as a site where womens
entanglement with politics, power, religion and resources is playing out, she wrote in one
chapter of the book.
Her research wasnt solely focused on Iran, but included examinations of womens rights in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and within Canadas Muslim community.
Despite the suggestion in media reports Hoodfar was researching the recent Iran election
that saw a record 17 women win seats in parliament, her niece said that was not the case.
Following the death of her husband and her recent retirement, Hoodfar wanted to reconnect
with Iran and visit family and friends, Ghahremani said.
According to Ghahremani, Hoodfar had nothing but pride in her Iranian background and
Iranian culture.
She loved the country and thats why she wanted to go back and visit, Ghahremani said.
She really is the last person I could imagine falling into this circumstance.

Works Cited
Https://www.facebook.com/nickloganjournalist/. "Canadian Researcher Held in Iran: Who Is
Homa Hoodfar?" Global News. N.p., 09 June 2016. Web. 23 Dec. 2016.
"Universal Declaration of Human Rights." United Nations. United Nations, n.d. Web. 23
Dec. 2016