September 13, 2022, was a very exciting day for 22-year-old, Jina Mahsa Amini. She had just arrived with her brother in Tehran, anxious to visit her family. A few minutes after getting off the Tehran Metro she was greeted by the Morality Police and confronted for not wearing a proper Hijab. After a heated discussion, Jina was forced into a police van and ushered away to the Vozara detention Center. A few hours later, she was rushed to the hospital and pronounced brain dead, the result of severe blows to her head by a baton. Three days later, on September 16, Jina Mahsa Amini died in the ICU, igniting the largest uprising Iran has witnessed since the 1979 Revolution!
For the next several months, security forces fired assault rifles, shotguns loaded with pellets, beat protesters with batons and used tear gas, resulting in the death of more than 500, including young children under the age of sixteen, and arresting tens of thousands. The "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement exploded in almost every city of Iran, consisting of men, women, and young children, expressing their outrage over the decades of oppression and gender-based violence. Two years since the death of Mahsa, the war on women has not diminished. The government has intensified its violent crackdown against women using surveillance cameras and carrying out floggings against hijab violators.
On January 6, 2024, Roya Heshmati received 74 lashes as a brutal punishment for not wearing her hijab. A few months later in July of this year, 31-year-old, Arezoo Badri was shot by security forces while driving away in her car and for refusing to pull over. Her license plate had been photographed and flagged as a hijab violator. She remains in the hospital paralyzed from the waist down.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's International Deputy Director, pointed out, that in the past two years, "Iranian authorities have been waging a propaganda campaign of denial and distortion to conceal evidence of their crimes and attempting to intimidate survivors and victims' families into silence." To further intensify their oppression of women, they launched a new campaign in April 2024, entitled the "Noor Plan." This plan calls for increasing security patrols on foot, motorbike, car, and police vans in public spaces to enforce compulsory veiling.
In August of 2024, a disturbing video circulated on social media, showing multiple agents violently assaulting two 14-year-old girls after they removed their headscarves. One of the victims, Nafas Hajisharif described the violent encounter she had with the security forces.
"They were pulling me by the hair, shouting at me and cursing. When they took me inside of the van, they threw me onto the floor. One female agent hit me, put her knee to my throat, and hit my head hard. My head was stuck between the seats, and they were kicking the side of my torso."
This deadly assault against women is punishment for daring to claim their human rights of freedom of expression. Women are targets of an out-of-control dictatorship government in a male-dominated culture where they are treated like animals and second-class citizens.
However, in the past two years, these brave and determined women have refused to comply with the Ayatollahs or Mullahs. They take to the streets without their veils giving the government the middle finger and saying no to the Islamic Republic's tactics of oppression. Risking violence, arrest, imprisonment, and torture, Iranian women continue to defy the law, standing firm for their rights and freedom. They have paid a great price for their defiance and courageously continue the great uprising of 2022.
Maryam, a young 16 year-old high school student, living in the Khuzestan Province of Iran, recently gave an interview to the Center for Human Rights In Iran, recalling the early days of the uprising, and why she continues to fight for her rights.
"I was a student at middle school during the protests. When News of Mahsa's killing spread, we were all angry! Every day, the school staff came to work in fear of the students. We wrote, "Woman, life, freedom" on the doors and the walls, covered the washrooms with red paint, and drew protest signs."
Maryam goes on to describe the consequences of their actions. "Nobody covered their hair in the classroom anymore. We would gather in the yard and sing protest songs. They would tell us to shut up, but we refused. They lowered our grades, summoned us to the office, or ordered our parents to come to the school and make pledges of obedience. But we weren't afraid! Whenever we could, we also wrote slogans and posted pictures of Mahsa on the walls outside the schools."
Maryam finished her interview by describing their newfound courage and looking ahead to their future living in Iran.
"After what happened to Mahsa, public support for women increased. People's courage increased, and their clothing as well as their thoughts changed. Iran's future is unclear. We will defend our rights as long as we can, but liberation is not easy."
The government believed that after the massive crackdown the "Woman, life, freedom" movement would somehow quietly go away. Nothing could be further from the truth. These brave Iranian women, like Maryam are not quietly going away into submission. They are fearlessly standing up to the Supreme Leader and with one loud voice proclaiming, "Woman, Life, Freedom!"
Two years later, they haven't forgotten the unjust murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, or any other peaceful protester that has given their life for human rights and freedom. This dictatorship government has unleashed a "female monster" that refuses to back down or comply. The cracks in the foundation of this evil regime are growing larger and it's only just a matter of time before it crumbles. Bravo to the incredible women of Iran who put to shame the silent and hypocritical feminists of the world that refuse to raise their voices of support!
