Mahsa Amini’s death inspires protests around the world

USD students react to Iranian police’s laws on women’s bodies

ANJALI DALAL-WHELAN / CONTRIBUTOR / THE USD VISTA

The latest uproar of women in Iran started when Mahsa Amini was arrested by Iranian morality police on Sept. 13 for allegedly violating the country’s dress code for women.

On Sept. 16, she died at the age of 22. Iranian authorities reported that Amini suffered a stroke while in custody, but her family insists she was beaten or tortured to death. 

Amini’s death quickly inspired protests in cities across Iran. During these protests, many women burned their headscarves and publicly cut their hair. The protesters are calling not only for the removal of strict modesty laws but also for the end of the dictatorship of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. During the two weeks of protests, demonstrators clashed with Iranian police, throwing Molotov cocktails and destroying police cars. According to Iran Human Rights, a nonprofit based outside of Iran, at least 133 people had been killed since the protest started, including children. However, it is difficult to know exactly what is happening, because the Iranian government restricted internet access since the protests began. Several protesters were arrested, including celebrities and journalists who spoke out against the government. These protests were led by women, but many men joined in solidarity. 

Briana Mawby is the Program Officer for Women, Peace and Security at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (KIPJ) at USD. Mawby explained that these protests are about more than just modesty laws in Iran. She saw the events as examples of women as trailblazers for social change.

 “At a global scale, we often see women at the forefront of these protests, similar to these protests focused on women’s rights,” Mawby said. “We’ve seen them in Afghanistan. We’ve seen them in Poland. Often women are the heads of movements more broadly about ending violence or fighting for good governance or democratic norms.” 

The modesty laws requiring women to wear a hijab or headscarf in public were instituted when the Islamic Republic of Iran came to power in 1979. The rules were not rigidly enforced in recent years until Ebrahim Raisi, the new President, decided to crack down on modesty laws this summer, which resulted in the arrest of women breaking the dress code.

Iranians in the U.S. and other countries organized rallies and vigils, and took to social media to show solidarity with Iran. President Biden spoke about the protests in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 21 to announce his support for the men and women in Iran. 

In the USD community, junior Gabrielle Hall is planning a protest in solidarity with Iran on Oct. 11 at 12 p.m. at Plaza de Colachis.

“[Women in Iran] don’t have rights to freedom of speech and other luxuries that we have here, so I feel it’s my job to speak up and give them the platform to lift their voices,” Hall said.

USD first-year Grace Anderson knew about the arrest of Mahsa Amini but was not aware of the extent of protests occurring in Iran. 

“It’s scary and horrible, and it’s scarier that we can’t know what’s going on because the media is blocking things,” Anderson said. “I wish I was better educated on the issue.”

Although the protests for the rights of women in Iran and the U.S. are very different, Mawby sees a connection.

“We are seeing trends in different countries toward more right-wing governments that tend to try to control women and their bodies, and I think that it looks different in different places in the world,” Mawby said.

Although some Americans may not follow the news of other countries too closely, USD first-year Alex Kueter stays updated on the events in Iran. 

“I read about it happening in the news last week, and I’ve been following it online vaguely whenever I see articles about it,” Kueter said. “I know there’s not that much I can do, but I like to stay informed about the situation.”  

Kueter also compared the situation in Iran to the future of women’s freedom in the U.S. 

“At the end of the day, it’s probably going to be a lot like Roe v. Wade where people are going to protest, people are going to be justifiably mad, people are going to get hurt and then it’s just going to stop, and nothing’s going to change,” Kueter said. 

Mawby asserted that there are some things concerned Americans can do to support women in Iran, such as raising their voices.   

“Calling for internet access to be restored, calling your own representatives who work on foreign policy here in the U.S. is really critical to make [Iranians] know that we care about how women are respected and how women are treated around the world,” Mawby said.  

The protests in Iran show no sign of stopping, and more solidarity events are occurring across the U.S. 

Still, it is unclear if the demonstrations will result in any change in laws and regulations around women’s rights from the Iranian government.