Protests in Iran are part of a proud tradition of fighting for empowerment of women

The ongoing protests in Iran, which have been described by some as a “2022 Iranian revolution,” are led by women.

They are already being viewed as the latest addition to the list of famous demonstration by women throughout history around the globe. The 1949 protest, for example, when female cleaners in the UK, unhappy with low wages, marched from Temple Gardens in London to Inn Fields in Lincoln carrying signs that read “Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Women cleaners are next to starvation.”

Or the march in South Africa on Aug. 9, 1956 when a group of women protested a new Apartheid-era domestic travel law designed to segregate the population with slogans such as “You strike a woman, you strike a rock.”

The protest slogan in Iran today is “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi,” or “Woman, Life, Liberty.” It emerged following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sep. 16 while in the custody of the Iranian morality police, after she was detained for failing to follow strict rules for wearing the hijab head covering.

The protests have been met with state violence, with police beating protesters, including women, with batons and spraying them with tear gas. Meanwhile, women are removing and burning their hijabs, a potent act that a recent report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace headlined “Hijab in Iran: From religious to political symbol.”

Western and Iranian historians who have studied the political and social developments in Iran during the past 150 years argue that the records often overlook the role of Iranian women in the political process. Though often obscured, their influence has often been crucial.

The bravery of young women such as Fatemeh Amini and Mehrnoush Ebrahimi has proved instrumental to the history of Iran, as those deemed supposedly powerless have shown the willingness to sacrifice their lives for a cause. These two women were political prisoners and victims of the Shah’s regime during the 1970s. It is believed that the 1979 Iranian Revolution and its rallying cry for freedom was inspired by women like them who dared to oppose the Shah in an unprecedented show of resistance.

On March 8, 1979, International Women’s Day, shortly after Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a decree making the wearing of the veil mandatory for girls and women ages nine and over, a new wave of protests broke out. Thousands of women took to the streets, just weeks after the revolution that had toppled the Shah, chanting “We didn’t have a revolution to go backwards.”

In response to transformative legal and social regulations imposed in 1981 in Iran affecting women — including gender segregation in the workplace, on beaches, at schools and sporting events, followed by new laws governing divorce, inheritance, child custody, retribution and citizenship — feminist activists organized many campaigns in the years that followed.

The active role that women have played in the political and social life of Iran over many years is clear. The current protests have captured the attention of the world. UN Women issued a powerful statement about women’s rights in Iran, expressing full support for their right to protest against injustice without facing violence in return, their freedom to exercise control over their own bodies, including choice of dress, and other basic human rights in line with the UN Charter.

Canada hosted a virtual meeting of the world’s female foreign ministers on Thursday to discuss the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on the protests and the state of women’s and human rights in the country.

Many celebrities and other prominent public figures have voiced their support for women in Iran, with many taking to social media and some cutting their hair in solidarity. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, appearance at an event in Los Angeles this week wearing a shirt with the slogan ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ in Farsi.

Celebrities in the US have long been actively involved in efforts to empower women and give the issue greater visibility. It seems to have an effect; one recent high-profile example of this was the 2017 Women’s March, in which more than 5 million people took part across the country, according to some estimates. Worldwide participation was estimated at about 7 million.

The ongoing protests in Iran further illustrate the important role of women in the social and political spheres. Despite the uncertainty over what the outcome will be — whether in terms of regime change or modifications to the current government’s approach — the bravery of women such as Mahsa Amini, Sepideh Rashno and Nika Shakarami will always be associated with the Iranian protests of 2022.

Change requires time but the actions of the women who are protesting will continue to resonate and might ultimately provoke or sustain transformation and reform. Women’s voices, which are sometimes their only form of power, can carry further and louder than many governments would wish.

Brave women might empower themselves — but by speaking out, they empower others.

• Dr. Diana Galeeva was an academic visitor to St. Antony’s College, Oxford University (2019–2022). She is the author of two books: “Qatar: The Practice of Rented Power” (Routledge, 2022) and “Russia and the GCC: The Case of Tatarstan’s Paradiplomacy” (I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2023). She is also a co-editor of the collection “Post-Brexit Europe and UK: Policy Challenges Towards Iran and the GCC States” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). Twitter: @diana_galeeva