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Goal 5: Gender Equality

What's Going On In Iran?

Right now in Iran, we are seeing the biggest women's rights movement in the world, and teen girls are at the forefront.

By Jessica Jurkschat 
6 march 2023

Right now, we are seeing the biggest women's rights movement in the history of Iran, led by teen girls and Iranian women. Since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's tragic death on September 16th, Iranians (and people worldwide) have joined together to protest against the Iranian regime and demand change and a call for freedom. 


Women's rights are human rights – what's happening in Iran is a human rights movement.

On September 13, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was with her brother at a train station in Tehran when she was stopped by the ‘morality police’ for not complying with Iran's strict hijab rules. Three days after her detainment, she died.


Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody in Iran after being violently detained by the "morality police" for allegedly not fully covering her hair with a hijab. Her death has sparked outrage across the globe, all fighting for women's rights to be upheld.

Amidst the protests against Mahsa Amini's killing, Iranian authorities repeatedly cut off mobile internet connection and disrupted Instagram and WhatsApp, two of the most popular social media services in the country. Telegram, YouTube and TikTok also periodically crashed.


Women across Iran protested against gender apartheid by cutting their hair, removing their headscarves and burning their hijabs. And in major cities across the globe, hundreds of thousands of people rallied together to condemn Mahsa Amini's death and protest against the Iranian regime.

At least 530 protesters have been killed and nearly 20,000 people have been arrested, according to US based Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group monitoring the unrest. This number includes at least 71 children killed by the regime.


What's happening in Iran is both a human rights crisis and a movement. Please don't turn away from what's going on. Keep the world watching and help amplify the voices of those at the forefront. 

Spread the word. Use your voice. Say their names. 


#MahsaAmini

#NikaShakarami

#SarinaEsmailzadeh


@masih.alinejad

@iranrights

@1500tasvir

@golfarahani

@dorreh_khatibi

@faranak_amidi

@samaneh_savadi

@from____iran


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