Tehran, Iran – Four years ago this week, Mahsa “Jina” Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, was leaving a metro station in Tehran with members of her family when she was detained by the Guidance Patrol, Iran’s morality police, for perceived noncompliance with Iran’s mandatory hijab laws. Amini’s headscarf had slightly receded from her forehead, so two female and two male members of the morality police put her in a van and transported her to a so-called re-education centre, where she would receive guidance on how to dress in a way deemed appropriate by the authorities. Security camera footage released by the government showed Amini in the downtown Tehran re-education centre collapsing onto the ground, as a chador-clad policewoman scolded her.
She was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead three days later on September 16, 2022. Authorities claimed Amini had pre-existing health conditions and denied any wrongdoing. But her father, Amjad Amini, said fellow prisoners told him her daughter had been beaten inside the police van.
Two female journalists, working for local newspapers, helped break the story and grabbed the attention of the nation. The reports included a heart-wrenching image of her parents embracing in front of the intensive care unit where Amini died. The journalists were later imprisoned on national security charges.
Small demonstrations took place in front of the hospital, and then in her hometown of Saqqez, in the western province of Kurdistan, after her funeral. Within several weeks, protests had spread across Iran, calling for greater freedoms for women and Iranians in general. The protests lasted into early 2023 and received support from across the globe.
The United Nations’ Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran later corroborated reports by foreign-based rights groups that at least 550 Iranians were killed during the protests, including 68 children and 49 women in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces. A Kurdish saying, “Woman, Life, Freedom”, became the slogan of this unprecedented movement, which has significantly altered how Iranians dress and think. Bahar said she never believed in the mandatory hijab and always wished she could choose what to wear, as most women across the globe do, including in almost all other Islamic countries.
For months after the protests died down, she would keep a headscarf around her neck for fear of reprisals by the authorities. Despite the lingering risks, she no longer carries that headscarf, either. Setareh, another young resident of the capital, has the support of more family members for her choice of what she wears and how she looks.
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