the situation in iran: A global issues piece

10/30/2022

Every single woman and every single girl, every single day, every single year in Iran since 1979, has had to wear a hijab. When the clock strikes midnight on an Iranian girl’s ninth birthday, she must wear a hijab every day she spends in Iran for the rest of her life. Wearing a hijab is meaningful to Iranians, including Mahsa Amini, who wore a headscarf while visiting Tehran at 22 years old, just last month.

Tehran has a history of strictly enforcing hijab and skin coverage laws, specifically on women. Police arrested Mahsa Amini on September 13th, 2022 when they spotted her with her hijab worn “too loosely”. Amini was then taken to a detention institution where she was allegedly lectured on the Tehranian hijab laws. Suddenly, Amini died on September 16th, 2022 in a Tehranian hospital, just three days later. Records released to the press stated that she died of a heart attack. However, Amini’s family and witnesses who were present in the car ride to the detention center have attested to the fact that Amini was repeatedly beaten in the car by Tehranian police. Medical reports later revealed that Amini’s skull was fractured and her feet had been severely bruised before she died.

Every single woman and every single girl, every single day, every single year in Iran since 1979, has had to wear a hijab. When the clock strikes midnight on an Iranian girl’s ninth birthday, she must wear a hijab every day she spends in Iran for the rest of her life. Wearing a hijab is meaningful to Iranians, including Mahsa Amini, who wore a headscarf while visiting Tehran at 22 years old, just last month.

Tehran has a history of strictly enforcing hijab and skin coverage laws, specifically on women. Police arrested Mahsa Amini on September 13th, 2022 when they spotted her with her hijab worn “too loosely”. Amini was then taken to a detention institution where she was allegedly lectured on the Tehranian hijab laws. Suddenly, Amini died on September 16th, 2022 in a Tehranian hospital, just three days later. Records released to the press stated that she died of a heart attack. However, Amini’s family and witnesses who were present in the car ride to the detention center have attested to the fact that Amini was repeatedly beaten in the car by Tehranian police. Medical reports later revealed that Amini’s skull was fractured and her feet had been severely bruised before she died.

It became increasingly clear that Mahsa Amini’s death was a murder that was committed in Tehranian police custody, by police officers, who tried desperately to cover it up. Her death became an international travesty as countries from every continent were left furious at her cause of arrest and the police brutality that took her life. Amini’s story quickly skyrocketed to mainstream news and protests sparked globally, including in the city of Toronto.

While people are protesting in the name of Mahsa Amini, many are speaking out against the lack of freedom given to Iranian women when it comes to what they can and cannot wear. The fact that arrest, torture and murder are what qualify as appropriate consequences for women who wear a hijab loosely instead of tightly in Iran angers many. Not only did this issue apply to Mahsa Amini, the issue represents all Iranian women who are scared to loosen their headscarf. The fact of the matter is that Mahsa Amini did in fact, wear a hijab. She abided by the forty-three year old law that a hijab must be worn by any Iranian woman over the age of nine. Her death was simply a byproduct of the violence Iranian police are trained to be unfazed by, even in the case of murdering an innocent young woman.

However, this is not the first, second, third or last time that the Iranian police force have perpetrated violence on innocents. In fact, Iranian security have murdered two hundred and twenty four protesters as of October 14th, according to Iran International. Twenty-nine of the victims have been classified as minors and all of the victims were reportedly protesting peacefully. In 2021, Iranian citizens began protesting living conditions in the country when the lack of clean water started to turn fatal. Nine people were murdered by police forces, in these protests alone, barely a year ago, according to Human Rights Watch. Mahsa Amini’s case is not only a testament to the gross violence and torture inflicted by the Iranian police force, but a testament to the lack of freedom Iranian citizens, especially Iranian women receive. This issue speaks to the intense need for an immediate police-training and policy reform in Iran. Never should Iranian men, women and children have to wish for freedom in their country, or wonder why a life was taken because of an innocent mistake.

Protests in Ottawa

Downtown Seattle (Washington)

Sources:

“What to Know About the Iranian Protests Over Mahsa Amini’s Death.” Time, https://time.com/6216513/mahsa-amini-iran-protests-police/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2022.
Team, LiT. “Hijab Rules for Visitors to Iran.” Living in Tehran (LiT), 20 Aug. 2022, https://livingintehran.com/2022/08/20/hijab-rules-for-visitors-to-iran/.
Iran Population (2022) - Worldometer. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/iran-population/#:~:text=The%20current%20population%20of%20the,the%20latest%20United%20Nations%20data. Accessed 26 Oct. 2022.
“Iran: Deadly Repression of Khuzestan Protests.” Human Rights Watch, 29 July 2021, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/29/iran-deadly-repression-khuzestan-protests.
“At Least 224 Killed So Far During Iran’s Crackdown On Protests.” Iran International, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202210146202. Accessed 26 Oct. 2022.

Written by Lyla Weisstub