On September 16, 2022, Mahsa Amini (age 22), died three days after her arrest by Iran’s morality police on grounds of hijab law violation. The circumstances of Amini’s death have since ignited worldwide protests calling for women’s justice and an end to the current regime under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
As argued by Russian Historian at New York University Anna O’Donnell, Iranian women’s protests are uniquely centered on women’s freedom and led by women. Girls as young as 15 have become involved in the movement, tearing up images of the Supreme Leader and removing their head scarfs, proclaiming, “Don’t let fear in, we stand united.” Women globally have also been cutting off long locks of hair as acts of defiance against the Iranian government.
According to the New York Times, Sussan Tahmasebi, a veteran Iranian women’s rights activist, claimed that Iranian women have long resisted conformity to the state’s hijab law, which requires women to fully cover their hair and wear loose-fitted clothing. She added, “now [the world has seen] the emergence of a younger generation that really care[s] about their bodily rights, and the hijab is probably the most visible infringement on their bodily rights.”
In Isfahan, Iran, three young women hung a banner over a highway bridge, featuring a painting of a woman with long black hair, warning, “One of us will be next.” Yasi (age 20) similarly highlighted her fear under the Iranian regime, sharing, “I keep thinking Mahsa could be me; it could be my friends, my cousins…You don’t know what they will do to you.” A women’s rights activist, Golshan (age 28) added, “We want to be heard…We don’t have one leader. The beauty and strength of our movement is that every single one of us here is a leader.”
Demonstrations across Iran highlight anger towards not only women’s oppression, but also over an economy suffering from corruption, food shortages, and U.S.-led sanctions. In response, Iranian authorities have restricted cell phone, internet, and digital platform (Instagram, WhatsApp) access and have been resorting to physical force.
UN Women issued a statement expressing support for the counter-revolution in Iran, highlighting Iranian women’s demand to “exercise their bodily autonomy, including their choice of dress” and women’s desire to hold government officials accountable for failure to acknowledge their inherent human rights as outlined in the UN Charter.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, encouraged individuals to educate themselves regarding the crisis in Iran: “We really do have to educate ourselves about what is happening in the world, so we can advocate for these brave women … Our voices are important for Iranian women to hear, so they know they have the support of the world.”
U.S based organizations supporting Iranian women include the Iranian American Women Foundation, United for Iran, and the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. To learn more about Iranian Women’s fight, visit the UN website, BBC News, New York Times, and the New Yorker.