Thousands of Iranians march for women’s rights supported by thousands more around the world

by Peter Schulte

For weeks, thousands of people across dozens of Iranian towns and cities have courageously protested the unfair treatment of women in the Middle Eastern country. Now, thousands more – in Los Angeles, Istanbul, Stockholm, Washington, San Francisco, Kabul, Paris, and many more cities around the world – have taken to the streets in solidarity.

The global protests come in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. On September 16, Amini was detained by the country’s so-called morality police. She had not sufficiently covered her head and hair with a hijab, a requirement of all women appearing in public in Iran due to its authoritarian regime’s interpretation of Islamic standards. Hours later, the police reported Amini in a coma due to a heart attack and seizure. However, eyewitnesses believed the police to have beaten and tortured her. She died in the hospital two days later.

Iran’s 1983 penal code states that “women who appear in public without religious hijab will be sentenced to whipping up to 74 lashes.” Iran’s government leader Ali Khamenei has also been quoted saying that “improperly veiled women should be made to feel unsafe.” The mandatory dress code is only one of many ways in which the Iranian government persecutes women. In 2017, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security ranked the country 116 out of 156 countries worldwide with respect to legal discrimination against women.

These protests are still very much active and have yet to produce any tangible, policy victories. However, Iranian activists and supporters around the world believe this is a historic moment and a possible inflection point for women’s rights in Iran.

To support Iranian women and help make these protests an important change milestone for women’s rights, consider a donation to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.