I am very proud to announce that the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded to Jina Mahsa Amini and the Woman Life, Freedom movement in Iran. The 16th of September 2022 is a date which will live in infamy, and the brutal murder of 22 year old Jina Mahsa Amini marked a turning point. It has triggered a women led movement that is making history.
— Roberta Metsola, European Parliament , December, 2023
                                                
 On 13 September 2022, Mahsa Amini was arrested and detained by Iran’s “morality police” in Tehran for alleged non-observance of Iran’s law on mandatory veiling. Later, she died in custody on 16 September. The Iranian protests for Women’s right were not new, yet Mahsa Amini’s death in custody triggered Iran’s longest anti-government protests and the first feminist uprising since the 1979 revolution. Sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a movement under the slogan "Women, Freedom, and Life" was launched by Iranian citizens and with the help of social media, it had won support worldwide. Despite gradually subsiding under the Iranian government's firm measures, the unprecedented impact of these movements demonstrated the power and potential of women's rights as a lever for mobilization and a demand for women's autonomy in Iran.  This essay will delve into the origin of the compulsory Hijab, the process of the protests after the death, responses from foreign countries and the Iranian regime, the distinguishing features of the protests, and the significance of it to the women to analyze how this event might be marked as a turning point in the country's history.
 
The origin of the Compulsory Hijab
 Iran has undergone surprising political changes in the past century after the 1979 Iranian Revolution especially when it comes to women’s roles and their status, Iranian women's clothing was diverse and embraced a style that included Western-inspired clothing such as skirts, dresses, and even bikinis(See Appendix A). Although post-revolution enforcement of hijab was temporarily derailed after a mass women demonstration against veiling on International Women's Day, March 8, 1979, Ruhollah Khomeini reimposed it in July 1980, which remain valid today, forcing all girls above the age of nine to wear a hijab in public spheres. In 1983, Iran’s parliament passed a law adding a punishment to those not adhering to the hijab law such as imprisonment for up to 60 days, fines or sentences to up to 74 lashes. Moreover, in 2006, Morality police, or "Gasht-e Ershad", were empowered with punishment such as a fine, prison or flogging to ensure women would conform to the dress code. In response to the protests after the death of Mahsa Amini, further restrictions on social media profiles were introduced, specifically targeting women and mandating the wearing of hijab. On average, in Iran, over 16,000 women per year were prosecuted by morality police for “violations” from wearing an improper hijab to walking with a male friend.
 
Protests after the Death
 Protests broke out in her hometown of Saqqez alomost immediately after the Mahsa’s death was reported and spread like wildfire across the country. Iranian women were at the forefront of street, holding lofts of pictures of Mahsa, waving their veils in the air, burnng them in bonfires, and shouting “Zhin, Zhiyan, Azadi” (woman, life, freedom).(See Appendix B)
By 20th September, 4 days after the death of Mahsa, there were videos posting on social media demonstrating anti-government protests such as billboards showing Ayatollah Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, being torn down in at least 16 of Iran's 31 provinces, which according to Kurdish Rudaw news outlet, P.M.F. Deputy Committee Chairman Mu'ayyin al-Kadthimi said that was an attempt to “target prominent figures such as Hadi al-Amiri” ahead of Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections. 
As protests grew and took place in dozens of other cities, the protesters set fire in big waste containers to block access to some streets, while shouting slogans against the Supreme Leader. As tensions heightened, the seventh day of protests marked a tragic outcome, with at least 31 civilians killed and many more left wounded. On September 26th, protesters clashed with police officers outside the Iranian embassy in London, not only signaling their support for the protests in Iran but also underscoring the attention the protest garnered on the international stage. On October, Universities students joined the protest by gathering on campus and chanting slogans like "woman, life, freedom" and"students prefer death to humiliation". Meanwhile, On social media, the harshtag “#MahsaAmini”  surpassed 80 million mentions on Twitter. Ordinary people shared their stories of oppression under the harshtag, resonated with her experience, and found comfort, turning her name into a global symbol for freedom.
On October 4, teen protester Nika Shakarami, who was shot to death during the protest and secretly buried by Iranian security forces, became a well-known figure in the movement stimulating fury from the civilians. Following this event, school girls in Haraj reportedly forced an education official out of their school, yelling “shame of you” as their slogan. 
As the protests continued, more and more Iranian celebrities, actors, and athletes have shown their support of protests on social medias: From former football player Ali Karimi, who passionately criticized the authorities on Twitter and Instagram while calling for an end to brutality, to actresses like Katayoun Riahi, who publicly removed her veil in a show of solidarity with Iranian women, a diverse range of celebrities is actively joining the call for change. Notably, even individuals like Shahab Hosseini, once perceived as loyal and closely associated with the Iranian government, have now aligned themselves with those demanding an immediate halt to the violent clampdown. The support from the celebrities underscores the significance of the freedom movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini and an end to oppressive measures in Iran. Over the past year, over 20,000 individuals were detained, and more than 500 lost their lives in Iran’s protests. Despite this crackdown, the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement persists, resonating across all facets of Iranian society, including religious and ethnic minorities, university students, professors, schoolchildren, factory workers, journalists, artists, and numerous other citizens.
 
International responses to the Protest
The protests soon won support from countries like the U.S., Germany, and France, urging Tehran to refrain from excessive force against the protesters. Moreover, the UK, US and its allies have collectively imposed sanctions on Iran, specifically targeting entities such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian judiciary, and private communication companies. The US imposed sanctions on Iran's morality police and senior security officials engaged in violence against protesters, while also sanctioning governors, prison managers, and broadcasters. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council convened a special session on Iran in November, subsequently launching an investigation into the events. However, the sanctions imposed were largely symbolic, as the West seemed more focused on preserving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran rather than addressing its human rights issue. Therefore， these measures had nearly no impact on the government measures to alter the dress code. This limitation arises from the fact that many of the sanctions primarily involve asset freezes and travel bans targeting individuals with restricted assets or those who do not travel outside Iran or to the countries sanctioning them.
 
The Iranian Regime responses to the Protest
The Iranian regime's response to the protests has involved a significant number of arrests and deaths. Despite a pardon or sentence commutation for "tens of thousands" of prisoners being announced in February 2023, excluding those linked to espionage or foreign countries, the death penalty had been imposed on protesters, with executions reported in December 2022, January 2023, and May 2023, raising concerns about unfair proceedings and mistreatment. Moreover, the Iranian government has blamed foreign actors for the protests, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei characterizing it as "hybrid warfare." Foreign citizens in the country, including French and US citizens, have been arrested, and there are reports of harass. Iran has also targeted British-Iran journalists, while attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan have been linked to Iranian accusations of Kurdish support for protests.
In response to the protests, the regulations of hijab in Iran strengthen. In January, the judiciary introduced new guidelines prohibiting the public removal of headscarves, with outlined sentences extending up to ten years for those promoting such actions. Subsequently, in March, authorities proposed additional measures to enforce mandatory hijab wearing, which included the utilization of surveillance cameras to identify women not adhering to the dress code. Furthermore, authorities have closing down numerous businesses that served women without adhering to the hijab requirement. The Iranian government's series of tough measures in response to protests have made the revision of the Hijab law seems impossible.
 
Distinguishing Features of Current Protests
As mentioned in the introduction of this essay, the Iranian protests were not new, but the recent protests had some clear distinctions from earlier ones. The foremost disparity lay in the unprecedented scale and widespread participation witnessed during the recent protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. While the 1999 demonstrations were confined to Tehran University, the 2009 uprisings expanded throughout the Iranian capital and the protests from 2018 to 2019 erupted in multiple cities, the latest protests, however, permeated across the entire nation, capturing global media attention and garnering international responses and support, distinguishing them as a pivotal moment on the world stage. Furthermore, the current protests were the first Iranian demonstrations where women played a main role and with active participation from both genders. This rallying cry, "Women, Life, Freedom," underscored a unified demand for women's autonomy and was different from earlier protests that mainly focused on economic or political issues. Yet as prominent activist Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani mentioned in her book The Hijab and Intellectuals, prior to the current demonstrations, leading critics of the regime were reluctant to prioritize the refusal of oppression to women such as  the “compulsory veil” as a political demand. This protest’s distinctions with all prior protests hinted at a possible turning point for Iranian women to gain autonomy.
 
The Significance of the Protest for Women
The protests in Iran have demonstrated the power and potential of women’s rights in terms of mobilization and demand for women's autonomy. These protests have sparked a unprecedented unity of women pursuing freedom and autonomy. The slogan "Women, Life, Freedom" which was born from the Kurdish women's revolution in Rojava, emerges as a rallying cry against patriarchy and the use of religion to subjugate women. It underscores the importance of women not only within families but also in political leadership, emphasizing the link between freedom and progress in women's liberation. Critically, the movement has successfully bridged connections between millions of Iranians in the diaspora and women within the country, giving rise to numerous emerging grassroots organizations and campaigns committed to advocating for women in Iran. In January 2023, a coalition of Iranian women's grassroots organizations introduced an initial version of a "Bill of Women's Rights. This document consists of eighteen articles that cover a wide range of women's issues, including but not limited to political and social participation, education, health, family law, employment, and the problem of violence against women. The committed editors of the bill have conducted multiple international gatherings to engage in extensive deliberations on its content. This protest marks an unparalleled moment in Iranian history. While previous demonstrations, such as the significant Green Movement in 2009, drew millions protesting against state-sponsored vote-rigging, the current movement stands out for its apparent breadth and demographic diversity. “This is one of the first times that we’re seeing men also join in that call,” According to professor Tajali ,“They are seeing that women’s interests and their demands for gender equality and non-gender discrimination falls in line with the larger pro-democratic, pro-human rights demands that the larger society has. It’s much more intersectional.” Moreover, university students, labor unions, and ethnic minority groups are collectively leveraging women's rights as a focal point in their calls for transformative change. Despite differing grievances, including stifling social restrictions, a faltering economy, and pervasive repression, their unified stance against the regime underscores a remarkable consensus among these diverse groups. Perhaps one of the most important achievement of the protest is it brought the status of the Iranian women to the world stage, letting the world hear the voice from them. Just as Naza Alakija, the founder of NGO Sage Foundation and Senior Advisor to UNICEF, said, “Women everywhere can suddenly empathize with the women of Iran, and have listened to their voices and stories for the first time. It has not only given them the strength to fight and to take to the streets; it has given us hope that Iranian women matter. Hope is the most valuable and important feeling. This public outcry has brought women together. It’s a tragedy that a woman had to die for this to get attention, but this moment can transcend space and time, and this unity has the capacity to move us forward.”
 
Unveiling Resistance to be Continued
In the past few months, Human Rights Watch has reported an escalation in the Iranian government's suppression of civil society, particularly days before the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini's death in custody, which sparked nationwide protests. More than 500 individuals, including 69 children, died during the protests. The crackdown has extended to university campuses, with at least 27 critical university instructors facing dismissal, suspension, forced retirement, or non-renewal of contracts since late July. In response to the widespread resistance against the mandatory hijab, Iranian authorities have intensified their efforts to enforce the dress code for women. Employing various tactics such as legal summonses, new legislative measures, and heightened pressure on private businesses, they seek to impose and reinforce hijab regulations. Although this protest has gradually subsided, its unprecedented scope and focus on women, level of participation, and impact make it unparalleled. It is not only a protest for the rights of Iranian women but has also sparked a nationwide and even global discussion on freedom and oppression. It is challenging to predict when Iranian women may break free from the persuasion of the Hijab, but this protest was highly likely to leave a profound mark on Iran's history