It is now more than a month since the death of Mahsa Amini – following her detention by morality police for “improper hijab” – ignited outrage in Iran. The protests set alight by the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman have persisted and thrived despite the regime’s brutality, and have gone far beyond women’s rights. They are not only the longest-running since the Green Movement emerged in 2009, but are more geographically and socially diverse. They build on previous demands, and go beyond them. Though women are at the forefront, men too have chanted “women, life, freedom”. Participants have ranged from bareheaded schoolgirls to their parents and even grandparents.
On one side we see the brutality of the riot police and broader security apparatus. Rights groups estimate that 215 people, including 27 children, have been killed in the protests and at least 1,500 arrested. Amini’s name in English and in Persian has reportedly become the most used hashtag in the world in the last six months. But the names of other women are becoming dismayingly familiar. There are growing concerns for an Iranian climber, Elnaz Rekabi, uncontactable since she competed in a tournament in South Korea without her hijab. Further unrest was sparked by reports that a 16-year-old, Asra Panahi, died after she was beaten by security forces for refusing to sing a pro-regime song during a raid on her school.
