The sheer scale and power of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in Iran were initially surprising. The protests, which started in 2022 and continued into January, provided a fresh look at Iranian society. Why did women’s protests, in a country facing numerous economic hardships that also fueled protests in 2017 and 2018, gain such widespread solidarity and support?
The answer highlights some less-known aspects of modern Iran.
The 2022 protests initially broke out in response to the systematic oppression of women through mandatory hijab laws that enforced a strict Islamic dress code. However, they gradually exposed deeper social issues. At their peak, the protests fostered a unique sense of unity, with diverse voices heard from Kurdistan and Baluchistan to Tehran, including social, civil society, and political groups.
Consequently, the fight against gender oppression became linked to the struggles of marginalized ethnic groups, labor unions, and civil organizations. This suggests that Iran is experiencing a series of interconnected protests, each more intense than the last.
The 2022 protests showed that women, along with other oppressed and disadvantaged groups, are central to these movements and will be key in shaping Iran’s future. Even now, a large number of Iran’s political prisoners are women, and three women—Pakhshan Azizi, Varisha Moradi, and Sharifeh Mohammadi—have been sentenced to death.
Despite the state’s harsh repression, the 2022 protests have had some positive effects. After months of debating a new “Chastity and Hijab” bill, the Iranian government ultimately decided not to enforce it, fearing more protests. Simultaneously, despite government coercion, women have successfully asserted their right to choose their own clothing. Men have also joined the resistance against mandatory hijab, refusing to support government policies and opposing the repression of women protesters.
Thus, the women’s struggle has not only forced the Islamic Republic to back down but has also created fissures in the patriarchal structures of Iranian society. Violence against women persists, often perpetrated by husbands or male relatives. However, the fight for gender equality has undeniably challenged traditional concepts like “honor” and “family dignity.”
In the past, most women advocating for gender equality or freedom of dress felt compelled to prove their adherence to traditional values. Today, they no longer feel obligated to demonstrate allegiance to religious and cultural norms. Women’s activism has disrupted the traditional patriarchal family structure, lessened the influence of certain Islamic laws, and weakened religious and traditional values. By demanding their rights, women have played a vital role in Iran’s secularization and democratic aspirations.
Iranian women’s resistance dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially during the Constitutional Revolution. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women’s status declined in both private and public life. Almost immediately after the Islamic Republic was established, women faced demands for mandatory hijab. However, on March 8, 1979, International Women’s Day, women protested, chanting, “In the dawn of freedom, there is an absence of freedom,” forcing the government to retreat.
Around that time, secular women’s groups started to organize. However, in the chaos of the post-revolution period and, particularly, the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, these groups were suppressed. Not only was mandatory hijab enforced, but the regime’s anti-women laws were also institutionalized. Combined with the eight-year war, state suppression temporarily silenced the women’s movement. But resistance continued in different forms.
The sociologist Asef Bayat has examined the impact of everyday resistance against the Islamic Republic’s repression, which gradually challenged both the clerical establishment and traditional patriarchal beliefs. Because much of the violence against women stems from the ideological foundations of the Iranian regime, the women’s movement has directly confronted the government’s dominant ideology and its religious laws.
In this context, it becomes clear that women’s leadership in the 2022 protests was not sudden or spontaneous but rooted in a long history of public organizing and resisting oppression in daily life.
My sisters, women’s rights activists, and feminists across the globe, the time has come for us to unite and criminalize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. Our strength lies in solidarity, in sisterhood, and in standing together to realize women’s rights.
Recently, I had an inspiring conversation with Margaret Atwood via TIME Magazine about gender apartheid and the similarities between what we face today and the dystopian world of her historic novel The Handmaid’s Tale, which I read in prison. What has been happening in Iran is a reminder of resilience of women in the face of oppression. Listen to the experience of women in Iran and Afghanistan—help us fight with gender apartheid by amplifying this fight.
As March 8 approaches, let’s join hands and stand together for a world free from violence against women and gender apartheid. Let’s fight for equality, democracy, and freedom. Let’s remember that the shared path to “Woman, Life, Freedom”—Jin, Jiyan, Azadî—knows no borders.
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