Parvin Darabi was born in Tehran Iran on September 16, 1941. On February 7th 1964 she arrived in San Francisco with $500 to pursue her childhood dream of learning how a radio worked. She studied at Calif. State University Northridge, University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, and California Coast University. Parvin worked as an electronic systems engineer, program manager, company president, and engineering consultant until 1994. From 1985-1990 she owned and operated her own Company PT enterprises, in Mountain View, California where they developed the most sensitive Radar Detector presently on the German Naval Vessels active in NATO.

On May 12, 94 she testified before the Human Right Caucus of the United States House of Representative, on women’s rights violations in Iran. Parvin lectures frequently on the Islamic oppression of women. 

Parvin and her son Romin P. Thomson, an attorney in San Jose, California have written a biography of Dr. Homa Darabi. The book is titled “Rage Against the Veil, the Courageous Life and Death of an Islamic Dissident” published by Prometheus Books, 1999. The book describes what it was like to grow up as Moslem girls and become accomplished feminists in an Islamic patriarchal society. The book has been published in German with the title of “du Wolltest fligen” in 1997 and in Dutch in 1998, and Persian in 2002.

In September of 95 Parvin Darabi spoke at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing regarding the situation for women in Iran and other Islamic countries. She has also lectured on the condition of Iranian minorities to the San Francisco Immigration and Naturalization Office. A video of a recent stoning in Iran was showed to the participants.

Since the death of her only sibling, Dr. Homa Darabi, on February 21, 1994 Parvin has not been able to continue her profession as a consulting engineer and has dedicated her life to the betterment of the women’s life in the Islamic world. Parvin established the Dr. Homa Darabi Foundation February 94 to Present: Founder & President of Dr. Homa Darabi Foundation, a Non-Profit 501(c)(3) organization concerned with all violations of human rights focusing on defending the rights of women and the girl child against religious, cultural and social abuse. The Foundation has aided many Iranians women and homosexuals to gain political asylum in United States and Canada by providing accurate information on the problems male gynecologists, homosexuals, religious minorities, Islamic dissidents and women have in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Immigration and United Nations officials. 

Parvin Darabi has lectured and been guest speaker at Iranian and other international organizations in Paris, Hamburg, Washington DC, Seattle Washington, Portland Oregon, New York, Los Angeles, CA, Feminist Majority conference, Douglas College New Jersey, Vancouver Canada, University of North Carolina, AAUW Incline Village. She was the keynote speaker at the Planned Parenthood anniversary of Roe vs. Wade in Reno. Guest speaker for many of the AAUW branches in California, Human Rights Conference Oregon School of Law. She was guest on O’Riely show of Fox News Network regarding the Kosovo women. Keynote speaker at the North Idaho College, Human Rights Banquet, 2002.

Parvin’s objective has been to inform people in general and the Western society in particular on the horrors of blindly following religious taboos and tenets. She speaks on the injustices done to women living under the Islamic laws. Where women are considered the “ward” of their fathers as long as they are children and then “ward” of their husbands when they are married and ward of their sons, grandsons or any other male relative they may have alive. Under Sharia laws women are denied the right to decide whom to marry, divorce, get custody of their children and their testimony is considered half of that of a man. They are not allowed to pursue some professions such as becoming a judge and their worth is half of that of a man. In Saudi Arabia the birthplace of Islam women don’t even have an identification card and in Kuwait there are denied participation in their, so called, “democracy.” Women are too emotional to vote, that is what was said by the religious members of Kuwaiti Parliament the last time the issue of women’s right to vote came up. Parvin believes change will only happen when we learn of the problems that exists in our world. And that is what she has set her mind into doing.

She has been interviewed by numerous newspapers, radio and television stations on the oppressive conditions faced by women, religious minorities, and political dissidents of Islam and Iran.

For further information regarding Parvin Darabi or the Foundation activities see the Foundation website at www.homa.org.