Iranian Scholar-in-Residence Leila Asadi (left), shown with Shirin Afsous ‘12, fled Iran and came to UMW through the Scholar Rescue Fund program. Photo by Norm Shafer
An international law professor and women’s rights activist seeking refuge in Fredericksburg is sharing her knowledge and experience with Mary Washington students. Leila Asadi, who fled Iran to escape the possibility of being jailed for speaking against the government, is serving this semester as UMW Iranian scholar-in-residence.
Asadi feared legal retaliation after she worked to quash a proposed law that would negate the rights of married Iranian women. She also reported about gender-related issues to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Asadi came to Fredericksburg through the Scholar Rescue Fund program, part of the nonprofit Institute of International Education. UMW is committed to safeguarding human rights and helping scholars who face persecution; it provides Asadi room and board.
In addition to teaching a seminar on human rights and Islam, Asadi is assisting with student research and continuing her own studies of women’s rights in Iran, including human trafficking and prostitution.
“Civil rights is not just an idea anymore,” Craig Vasey, chair of the Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion, told The Free Lance-Star. “Here’s somebody who’s doing this, and it’s inspirational.”