Women’s Rights in Iran and the Role of Civil Disobedience
Graphic created by Megan Wong
For decades, the governing system and regime in Iran have limited basic freedoms for women. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution installed a radicalized system of government, leaving the country with a militarized theocracy that controls and oppresses citizens. Due to the corrupt regime, Iranian women face harsh discrimination. Lack of freedom of expression, association, and assembly has left Iran’s citizens powerless. On Sept. 13th, 2022, a 22-year old woman, Mahsa Amini, was prosecuted for disobeying the headscarf regulation. Amini was brutally assaulted in jail, catalyzing thousands of Iranian’s to resist the regime through strikes and protests. Today’s protests are the largest women-led acts of civil disobedience in Iran’s history, showing the resilience and strength of Iranians.
Iranian women are forced to dress modestly, and are required to follow a mandatory head-scarf from the age of puberty. Iranian women may only have one husband, whereas men are able to have up to four wives. Iranian women can not divorce their husband without a judge’s order, but men can exclusively declare divorce verbally. Iranian women can get married at age thirteen without their consent.. Iranian women face strict restrictions to their right to expression and freedom, and face severe punishments for disobeying the Islamic Republic. Systemic and cultural oppression plague Iran’s society, barring citizens from exercising basic human rights. Torture, unfair trials, detention, and deadly prosecutions are all-too common in everyday life. Protestors want an end to the current regime, demanding an end to the dictatorship, and change for the better.
While, surprisingly, Britain did not colonize Iran, they did play a pivotal role in shaping the modern Iranian state. In 1921, Britain aided Reza Shah Pahlavi to become the monarch of Iran. However, by 1941, Pahlavi was forced into exile, which gave the throne to his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Prior to foreign intervention, Iran’s society was civil, made up of clergy members, landowners, intellectuals, and merchants. Mohammad Reza Shah completely disrupted Iran’s society by forcing rapid modernization and Westernization, where wealth was disproportionately distributed and Iranians were stripped from their right to self-governance. The social norms and institutions that once existed in Iran were destroyed. Shah designed an economy that solely relied on Western oil consumption, resulting in unreliable profits and expensive costs. By the 1970’s, Iranians not only felt the brunt of an unstable economy and high costs of living, but they also bore socio-political oppression from the Shah's regime.
Furthermore, Iranians are prohibited from critiquing their government through any kind of expression. Political protests are consistently combated with surveillance, harassment, or imprisonment. Today’s protests are not the beginning of Iran’s history with acts of civil disobedience and direct action toward government reforms. In 1964, former philosophy Professor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had been exiled for denouncing Shah’s economic reforms and rapid Westernization. Subsequently, Khomineni became the first Supreme Leader and founder of the Islamic Republic, bringing the regime as we know it today. Anti-regime protests were met with violence, where thousands were martyrs for advocating for religious expression. Amidst the chaos and violence, government workers began to strike who were joined by oil workers, curbing the oil industry, Iran’s main source of income. A new constitution inspired by Khomeini’s visions for a religious government gave ultimate power to the Rahbar (supreme leader), allowing him to mandate systems and structures to oppress citizens' rights. In under a decade, Khomeini formed an informal religious militia, which inflicted violence and political repression that exceeded that under Shah’s regime.
Unable to advocate for women’s rights and needs, the Iranian people are left with no choice but to disrupt the government through acts of civil disobedience. Barriers of oppression are being broken all across Iran. Students physically struck down a gender barrier in classrooms. Thousands of Iranians flood the streets to protest the Islamic Republic, and demand just systems and structures that uphold basic human rights ensuring freedom of expression, religion, association, and assembly.
Today, the Iranian government has been combatting protests against the regime by killing and attacking protesters and the press. To control citizens’ access to information and impede their ability to organize future acts of civil disobedience, the government has cut access to the internet, restricting use of many social media apps. Protesters are being executed for simply exercising their right to protest. The Islamic Republic not only disallows its citizens the ability to protest, but deliberately imposes harsh violence and intimidation tactics to silence them. The suppression of Iran’s citizens are unable to critique the government that is supposed to serve them and provide for them. However, Iranians bravely heed the path toward their freedom.
Since the beginning of the protests, violence against demonstrators has only gotten worse. Thousands of protestors have been injured, brutally killed, and detained. The protestors are not backing down, and neither is the regime. In Nov. 2022, 227 members of the 290-seat Parliament in Iran had ordered the Judiciary to give death sentences to all the people arrested during the ongoing protests. Over 15,000 protesters could face execution. The Islamic Republic seeks to intimidate their opposition by using the death penalty. Many Iranians do not know whether they will come back home after protesting, but they still continue to fight for their rights and freedom. “Death to the dictator” and “women, life, freedom [zan, zindagi, azadi]” are heard loud and clear in over 80 cities across Iran. By galvanizing their community, Iranians are reversing decades long oppression and putting pressure on their government.
For decades, Iranians, and people around the world, pour their heart and souls into fighting for what they believe in. Women in America are battling restrictions and bans on their ability to choose their path toward reproductive and sexual health. Women in Iran are unable to leave their homes without covering every single inch of their body and hair with clothing. In Iran’s case, the government has attempted to create unity by forcefully encouraging its citizens to follow strict Islamic laws and suppress their right to speak, publish, and organize. Iranians are fighting for their ability to make choices based on their religious freedoms. Fighting against a government that has committed grave intersectional injustices illustrates that societies can preserve religions, history, and culture while also advocating to protect their basic human rights. Many believe that strikes and protests don’t bring change, but in a world that attempts to reduce individual power, strikes represent people power and our ability to bring communities together for a collective cause. Protests are powerful. The organizational skill, time, and effort shows sacrifice and hard work. In a world where politicians and mega corporations attempt to silence us, we show up in the streets to fight for what we believe in. For instance, in South Africa, the Purple Rain Protest and Cape Town Peace March served a vital role in disrupting apartheid laws. During the Civil Rights Movement in America, civil disobedience challenged segregation laws, leading the Supreme Court to end racial discrimination on all public transport. Additionally, millions of Indians resisted British Colonial rule through acts of resistance.
We must fight to create a world we want to live in. When there is no power left in our hands, we show up. We scream, we shout, we march, we organize, we gather, we demand, and we continuously show up no matter how long it takes. Throughout history, progress consistently shows the power of civil disobedience. Protests are an act of resistance. We disrupt the system to change the system.
Edited by Abigail Loomis