Protests Erupt in Iran After Woman Dies Following Arrest for Breaking Hijab Law

Protests have erupted after an Iranian woman died days after she was arrested for breaking the country’s strict hijab rule.

QUICK FACTS:
  • Protests sparked in the country of Iran after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died following her arrest for violating the country’s strict hijab rules which require women to cover their hair and wear loose clothing over their arms and legs.
  • Amini fell into a coma and passed away after she was detained by morality police last week, leading to protests in her home of Tehran and the Kurdistan province.
  • Her death has led to widespread public attention in Iran and on social media over the past week, with the Persian hashtag #MahsaAmini reaching over 2 million Twitter mentions.
  • “From the age of 7 if we don’t cover our hair we won’t be able to go to school or get a job. We are fed up with this gender apartheid regime,” Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad tweeted.
  • Video has circulated on social media showing Iranian women protesting Amini’s death being brutally attacked and beaten by police in the streets.
IRANIAN ACTIVIST ON WOMEN BEING KILLED WHILE PROTESTING:

“These brave Iranian women removed their hijab and are leading anti regime protest in the city of Shiraz. They chant death of dictator. Iranian regime killed some of the protesters but people won’t give up their protest. #MahsaAmini,” Alinejad said.

BACKGROUND:
  • Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, it is illegal for women in Iran to be seen in public without the hijab.
  • Dress codes in the country are strictly enforced by the “morality police” who patrol the streets in vans arresting those who have “inappropriate clothing.”
  • Conservative host Amala Ekpunobi commented on the video of female protesters being beaten, sending a message to all “the women complaining in America about sexual liberation or toxic masculinity” saying “this is what true oppression and patriarchy looks like.”

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