More About "Persons"

A recent blog post (about Canada's Famous Five women who succeeded in having the law changed to  have women legally considered "persons" in Canada reminded me that there are some places where women - or other demographic groups - are still not considered "persons" for some reason or another.

A young woman from Iran once told me: You probably wonder why I have immigrated to Canada. In Iran, the country where I was born, because my religion is Bahai, I am not considered a person... That means that I can't go to university. We have our own schools for basic education, but that is as far as we can go.

She then added: In Iran, someone could even kill me and they wouldn't be punished... because I'm not considered a person.

That's what it means to be a non-person?! Her story was a real eye-opener for me!