Protests Erupt in Iran in Response to Police Killing of Mahsa Amini
Government brutality and oppression — especially against women — has caused widespread protests in Iran. Source for photo: Middle East Eye
Protests have erupted in Iran and around the world in response to the police killing of 22 year-old Mahsa Amini. Amini died in custody three days after being arrested outside a Tehran subway station. Iranian police allegedly beat her in a police vehicle, leading to her death. She was arrested by Iranian morality police for not following the country’s strict laws about women’s dress, most specifically the mandatory wearing of the Hijab.
These laws require Iranian women to wear conservative clothing and to cover their hair with a Hijab. Women in Iran struggled under and fought against these veiling laws since the 1979 revolution, the year of the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran under the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. The revolution, which was led by student and Islamist groups, overthrew the Shah of Iran. The revolution formed in protest to increased secularization under the Shah with Western backing. Protests similar to what the nation is currently seeing first occurred in 1979, when rumors surfaced of the new government creating such laws. These early protests slowed the implementation of mandatory veiling, which was not fully established until 1981. Current protests represent a continuation of the fight for women’s rights in Iran and around the world.
Protests against Amini’s death, which began in mid-September, are a response to the unjustified police murder and to the continued opression of women under the conservative government of Iran. The demonstrations display acts of defiance by Iranian women targeting various symbols of the Republic. Videos from the protest show women burning their Hijabs and cutting their hair in protest. The burning of the Hijab represents a direct defiance of one of the most notable parts of the nation's strict dress law. The cutting of hair represents, per Akbari of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, a willing and dissenting sacrifice: that if the government wants to control women’s hair, they can have it. The movements also adopted a slogan which originated from Kurdish freedom fighters and feminist movements, “Women, Life, Freedom.” Protests in solidarity with the women of Iran are also occurring in other portions of the world, including the US, UK, Australia, South Korea and France. These international protests have seen the use of a similar slogan “Women, Life, Liberty.”
Many of the protests in Iran have turned violent due increased levels of police attacks and the state’s attempts to silence the movement. According to an Amnesty International report, at least 52 people have been killed by authorities attempting to crack down on the protests. Additionally, the same report shows leaked documents in which the leadership of the Iranian Armed Forces ordered their soldiers in every province to “severely confront troublemakers and anti-revolutionaries.” This coincided with a violent escalation by security forces across Iran. Protests continue across Iran despite attempts to prevent them. Portions of Kurdistan and a number of student organizations and universities have called for, and carried out, strikes in response to police and state violence.
The death of Mahsa Amini has led to a broad movement in an attempt to force the Iranian government to change its laws regarding women’s dress code and police overreach. Violence against the protestors will only strengthen their cause. International protests in solidarity with the people of Iran have grown around the world. Similar protests over government overreach and oppression led to the Arab Spring in the 2010s. The Iranian government’s actions against protestors and a want for less oppressive rule may lead to similar uprisings in Iran.