Why the feminist uprising in Iran gathered the voices of millions

On September 14th, 2022, Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, was arrested for “inappropriate attire” according to the Islamic Penal Code. Iran’s morality police admitted her into their custody for not wearing her hijab correctly. Three days later, the police explained that she had suffered a heart attack while in a coma and died at 22. Her death symbolizes the oppression Iranian women have undergone for decades.

Although the police insisted that Amini had suffered a heart attack while in a coma, her father, Amjad Amini, clarified that she had been beaten to death, noticing bruising on her legs and feet. The outpour of anger following Amini’s death translated into heavy protests, beginning with Amini’s province of origin and then quickly spreading across the country. Thousands took to the streets, protesting not only Iran’s morality police but also the years of oppression faced by women in the nation. As the protests erupted, videos of the uprising began to flood the internet: in Northern Iran, clips of students tearing up pictures of Iran’s Supreme Leader, and in Tehran, the capital, videos of protesters marching down the streets with their fists in the air. Videos from Tehran also show Iranian citizens publicly burning their hijabs in solidarity with Amini. 

This instance is far from the first serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy. The government was last confronted in 2009 when Iranians rallied against the presidential election. The 2009 uprising, named the ‘Green Movement’, was also symbolized by the shocking death of Neda-Agha Soltan who was shot while protesting. In like manner to the ‘Green Movement’, the Iranian government responded to feminist protests with a violent deployment of armed riot police officers. Strikingly, the government cut electricity, blocking the Internet to discourage dialogue and prevent news and videos from spreading worldwide. Platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, Viber, Skype, and Instagram have been blocked, cutting off Iranians from the rest of the world. Activists in Iran explain that the primary purpose of the shutdowns is to disrupt communication among protest organizers and to stifle dissent. Despite this effort, the outpour of anger following Amini’s death has still been visible to the world, prompting a global response. The phenomenon of internet shutdowns is not new in Iran. In fact, in a 2019 protest against the presidential elections, through which 100 protestors were killed, Amnesty International reported an Internet shut down for 12 days. As a result of the frequent blackouts, many Iranians learned to operate advanced tools like virtual private networks (VPNs) to protect their data and activity. However, authorities now restrict these tools, so they are unreliable. Experts report that the current blackout is more targeted and sophisticated than that of 2019. 

Additionally, thousands on TikTok have gone viral, posting videos of themselves cutting their hair – an act that has become an international symbol of support for revolting Iranian women. Thousands of demonstrators also took to the streets in cities including Istanbul, London, and Montreal. In these demonstrations, Iranian expatriates call for the freedom of women back home. “With this regime, human rights simply cannot be respected. Now is the time to believe that we have the capacity to change this oppression that has lasted 43 years,” says Sahar, an Iranian woman who has been living in Italy for ten years.

Such regulations for women are enforced in Iran every day. Why did this particular occurrence strike a chord with millions of Iranians and others worldwide? 

History of the hijab & the morality police in Iran. 

The politicization of the veil in Iran began not with the Islamic Republic’s law mandating it but with a far earlier law barring women from the opposite: wearing it in public. In 1936, Reza Shah Pahlavi, the father of the shah, later deposed in the 1979 revolution, prohibited women from wearing the veil publicly; Pahlavi did this to westernize Iran. Due to this rule, women who wore the covering in public could have it forcibly removed from their heads, thereby confining many conservative women to their homes. Although this law lasted only a few years, its impact transcended this time frame. Almost immediately, the hijab was cemented not only as a symbol of religious devotion but as a battle over national identity. After the revolution, the hijab once again became a focal point of Iranian politics, now as a symbol of the new government’s Islamic identity. Just as the unveiled woman once represented Iran’s transition into secular ideals, the veiled woman now symbolized the Islamic national identity of the new, post-revolutionist Islamic Republic. Soon after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the government began to pass social regulations based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. Although this law requires both men and women to dress modestly, the state primarily targets women in practice. The state established the “Gasht-e-Ershad," widely known as the “morality police,” to enforce laws on Islamic dress codes in public. According to Iranian regulations, all women above the age of puberty must wear a headscarf and loose-fitting clothes in public. Although the exact age is not clearly defined, girls typically have to wear the veil from around the age of 7 in schools. If seen defying established regulations, those detained by the morality police receive a notice or, in some cases, are taken to a so-called education and advice center or a police station, where they are required to attend a mandatory lecture on the hijab and Islamic values. In any case, sovereignty for women concerning their choice of clothing has never been an option for Iranian women. Control of women in this manner is central to the rule of governments and a primary symbol of their authority. This domination explains the outpour of anger towards this oppression allegedly manifesting in different aspects of womens’ lives. 

A global plea for women’s rights. 

Many governments, including the federal governments of Canada and the U.S., have announced several sanctions against the Iranian regime. Now, we must consider: is that enough to hold the Iranian government accountable? The U.S. has been among the first to respond to the Iranian government’s actions. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated seven high-ranking leaders, including Iran’s interior and communications ministers and several law enforcement leaders, for financial penalties in response to the shutdown of Iran’s Internet, repression of speech, and violence inflicted on protesters and civilians. In another show of support, the Treasury Department announced that it would allow American tech firms to expand their business in Iran to combat the Internet cut-offs. Similarly, on October 3rd, 2022, the Canadian government slapped sanctions on 34 Iranian officials and entities, including the morality police, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Canadian minister of foreign affairs also rebuked the country’s “blatant disregard for human life” in a tweet. Additionally, the European Union added 11 Iranians and four institutions, including Iran's morality police chief, to a travel ban and asset freeze list for their role in the crackdown on protests after Amini's death. A host of countries within the organization – Denmark, Germany, France and Italy, among them – have called for further action through EU sanctions against the Iranian government. 

While many governments have denounced the Iranian government, it is unclear whether these actions are enough to hold Iran’s leadership accountable. For now, the hope lies with the young women of Iran who call the regime’s authority into question with each uncovered braid.