Protests in Iran

The suspicious death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, has triggered a series of protests in Iran, resulting in the deaths of at least seventy-six protesters, including four children. Mahsa Amini was pronounced dead on September 16th while being detained in Tehran after being arrested for wearing her headscarf in an ‘improper ’ manner and is said to have died as a result of suspected brain damage from her time in police custody.

In addition to the shockingly large number of deaths during these protests, hundreds of people have also been arrested, including twenty journalists. Women have been playing a leading role in these protests publicly setting fire to their headscarves and cutting their hair, while crowds call for the fall of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The news of the death of Mahsa Amini has deeply wounded and resonated with women throughout Iran, including the inmates of the women ’ s political ward in Evin Prison. After this devastating news, Forty inmates gathered in the communal yard as a token of their support for, not only Mahsa Amini and her family, but also for all women in Iran fighting for their rights. They lit candles, chanting together and mourning the death of yet another innocent woman. Iranian women have been fighting for their right for the past forty-three years, suffering systemic harassment from the Islamic Republic of Iran on their right to choose what they wear.

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, women ’ s rights have been limited and several laws were established. In the first years of the revolution, women lost their rights to divorce, the custody of their children or to travel without their husband’ s permission. The government also introduced mandatory veiling and a public dress code for women regardless of their ideology. Moreover, in 2016, only 6% of Iranian parliament members were women, the global average standing at around 23%. The reasoning behind enforcing hijabs is to tackle ‘ unsuitable ’ dress and defying this rule is considered a criminal act and results in arrest and imprisonment. A 21-year-old woman, Saba, was sentenced to twenty-four years for encouraging women to lift their scarves and was put in prison alongside her mother. Although this has been occurring for decades, the advance of social media and public surveillance has enabled the mistreatment to be recognised at a larger scale. As a result of this, Iran shut down the internet in parts of the main cities and all forms of communications, including WhatsApp and Instagram, have been blocked to prevent the spread of information and video footage. Iranian women have never stopped fighting for their rights, showing their utter determination and courage.

Mahsa Amini has become a symbol of unity for others and is further encouraging Iranian women to push back against these restrictions.

By Dory Lee-Potter