Protests Erupt in Iran

Protests erupted in Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian resident, was sent to a “re-education center” by the morality police for wearing her hijab too loosely on her head. Amini passed away in the hospital three days later.  

Amani was said to have experienced a heart attack but these claims were refuted by her family, who said that she did not have pre-existing medical conditions. Since then, speculations that Amani was allegedly beaten at the re-education center have surfaced. 

However, beyond expressing grief over Amani’s death, these protests are representative of the fight for self-expression of women in Iran.

“[Women] are imprisoned in a system that does not allow them to flourish; caught in a system where a group of men with conservative and unevolved attitudes are dictating their lives,” Goli Ameri, an Iranian American businesswoman, said.

The Amani Protests are the largest anti-democratic protests that have occurred since the 2009 Iranian Green Movement Protests. Demonstrators have currently gathered for protests in over 80 cities. Over the course of September 2022, these protests have mainly occured in the capital, Tehran. 

In efforts to prevent protesters from organizing within their group and the spread of news of the protests to other countries, Iran was drastically enforced censorship by blocking social media platforms, such as Whatsapp and Instagram.

Authorities have responded to the civil unrest by using tear gas and opening fire on protestors. As of right now, over 80 individuals have been killed in these protests and arrests of influential figures such as activists and journalists are continuing in the state.  

Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old protester, died during the protests after disappearing for a few days. Authorities refused to notify her family until 10 days after her death, when the police took Shakarami’s body out of the morgue and buried in a remote village without her parents’ consent. Reports show that Shakerami possessed injuries on her head after she died, leading to speculations that she was beaten to death. 

As the protests continue to occur, celebrities and political figures across the globe have shown their solidarity for the protests through social media and actions such as removing their hijabs and cutting their hair.

“In many ways, women’s rights are not just an Iran problem but a problem that belongs to all humanity; hence we all now have the responsibility to speak out against injustices,” Ameri said.

by JAHNAVI BOLLEDDULA