Editorial: Turning point for Iranian women
We all know that the Islamic Revolution vastly limited the rights of women in Iran.
According to the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index, Iran ranks 140th out of 144 countries as regards gender equality.
The data, however, cannot express the powerful stories of real people.
Mahsa Amini, who was murdered because some tufts of her hair were protruding from her Islamic head scarf, could have been any Iranian woman.
That is why Iran’s women flooded the streets carrying signs with the words, “We are all Ahsa Amini.”
That is why they are burning their hijabs and cutting their hair.
That is why many men are demonstrating by their side.
Iran, some say, has found its George Floyd, in the sense that the protests of Iranian citizens against the country’s authoritarian regime are not just an expression of rage for the shocking murder of the 22-year-old woman.
They are voices that seek greater change.
The question, therefore, is whether the demonstrations will develop into a mass anti-government movement.
What is certain is that the courage of all those who took to the streets in Iran marks a turning point for every regime that insists on not respecting the rights of women.
The protests reveal in the most emphatic manner that Iranian women are determined to claim that to which they are entitled.
They are prepared to struggle, and any means of violent coercion will not terrorise them.
They are accustomed to it.
Therefore, all they have to lose is a life with the fear of Iran’s morality police – literally and metaphorically.