It’s Been One Year Since the Death of Mahsa Amini – Here’s What’s Changed
On September 13, 2022, the Iranian morality police took 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini into custody. A member of the Kurdish ethnic minority from a small town in Northern Iran, Amini was arrested for alleged non-compliance with the country’s hijab rules.
It's becoming increasingly common for younger generations of women to wear their hijabs in a more relaxed fashion, which is referred to as “bad hijab” by authorities. Women wearing their headscarves improperly often rearrange them when the morality police’s white vans with green stripes are nearby because they fear being caught and punished. The morality police caught Amini wearing her hijab in a manner where her hair was visible, and this ultimately led to her death.
Mahsa Amini was taken to a re-education center where Muslim women are forced to re-learn how to dress and act in accordance with Islamic mandates. Three days later, she was found dead in her cell. Her cause of death is disputed. However, many people believe it to be a direct result of being beaten by the police. At Amini’s funeral, women removed their headscarves and chanted “death to the dictator” – referring to the supreme leader of Iran and his Islamic morality police. The following day, large protests bloomed across Kurdistan – a Sunni state with a deep-rooted history of fighting against suffocating religious and ethnic policies.
The morality police in Iran have a past of utilizing heavy-handed tactics to enforce Islamic norms regarding gender, sexuality, dress, and self-expression. They first issue a strict verbal warning to those who disobey and often end up taking people into custody, bringing them to re-education centers. Taking a deeper look at the significance of hijab-wearing among women in Iran, the culture and history behind the hijab carries with it religious, social, and cultural values shared by millions across the globe. However, many Iranians view the mandatory hijab rules as being linked to oppression and various political issues. These mandates have been in effect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the religious leaders who seized power in that revolution. Leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini made promises of equality between men and women and Muslims and non-Muslims living in Iran. However, as soon as he rose to power, he turned back on his words, oppressing women and those who don’t comply with Islamic rules with harsh laws. Since then, individuals have seen the hijab as a tool used by the government to restrict younger generations of Muslims. The hijab mandate is a relatively modern phenomenon in Iranian politics and lifestyle. Many older Iranian Muslims even remember the day when it came into existence and remember times when they weren’t required to wear a hijab, before the Islamic Revolution.
Amini’s passing sparked the “Women’s Life Freedom” movement. Since September 16, 2022, protests in Iran have led to the deaths of at least 537 individuals as well as over 22,000 arrests, with over 100 sentenced to death. These numbers are likely low estimations because of limited access to information and records. Amini’s death, although the catalyst for the “Women’s Life Freedom” movement, was not the only cause for activists to rise up and question Islamic mandates. Her death unleashed decades of bottled-up rage and unrest, blossoming into a global fight for freedom. Protests included demonstrations of women cutting their hair, burning their hijabs, and scuffling with the morality police. This year, on the anniversary of Amini’s death, demonstrators in all parts of the world marched in solidarity. Iranian authorities detained Amini's father while he was leaving his home to visit her grave. He has stood by his beliefs that her death was a murder as a result of physical brutality by the morality police. Activists share this theory, revealing why countless protests possess anti-regime motives.
After all these deaths, arrests, and a full year of national unrest and anger, the Iranian government has done little to create the positive change protestors demand. In an effort to weaken protests, authorities blocked uncensored social media platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp in parts of Iran. Iran already has a history of internet censorship, but in the past decade, social movements have begun to spread like wildfire on social media platforms. Like other governments with totalitarian characteristics, the Iranian regime filters and controls the internet much more strictly in times of turmoil and government dissatisfaction. Hence, this censorship remains strong to this day. In addition, surveillance cameras are being utilized by the morality police to identify hijab rule violators, not just in the open, but also monitoring people in their cars and inside of buildings to ensure proper dress. Authorities shut down businesses for serving people who dress improperly and prosecute individuals seen interacting with someone disregarding the rules of dress.
Moreover, the authority has refused to relax laws regarding public dress, and the opposite effect has actually occurred. The morality police appear to be stiffening the penalties (which used to be a large fine and barring rulebreakers from public activities) to up to 10 years in prison for wearing a hijab incorrectly. From a more optimistic perspective, the movement has led to international recognition of these women’s rights issues that may not have previously been in such a spotlight. Human rights organizations and governments have expressed sympathies and made efforts to lend a helping hand to the fight for women’s rights and against stifling hijab mandates. The movement has the backing of figures such as Margaret Alva, the Former Governor of Rajasthan, India; Kim Campbell, the 19th Prime Minister of Canada; Oprah Winfrey, philanthropist and media proprietor; and Michelle Obama, the Former First Lady of the U.S., as well as various other activists and political figures. Hijab mandates and women’s rights protests span the globe, and although the laws still stand, progress has been made toward making this fight international.