On September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini wore her hijab too loosely. Therefore, she was killed. Amini, originally from the northwest region of Iran in the Kurdistan province, was visiting Tehran. She was arrested by Iran’s notorious Morality Police for allegedly wearing her headscarf too loosely, violating Iran’s strict Islamic dress codes. In Iran, hijabs are mandatory for all women to wear in public, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or religion. 

Upon her arrest, officials stated that she was taken to a detention facility where she received training on hijab rules and correct modesty, and officials claim that it was there that she collapsed from a heart attack. She died in a Tehran hospital three days later. However, Amini’s family disputes this account, with Amini’s father claiming that authorities are lying about the nature of her death. Amini’s father told a pro-reform Iranian news outlet, Emtedad News, that officials would not let him see his daughter’s body. However, he managed to get a glimpse of her foot and saw that it was severely bruised. When Amini’s father viewed his daughter’s body prior to the funeral, her entire body was wrapped, with the exception of her face and feet, which enabled him to see the bruising on his daughter’s feet. Public skepticism over the officials’ account of her death has sparked worldwide protests. 

Although the hijab is mandated in Iran for all women to wear in public spaces, there are many forms of head coverings worn in place of the hijab under this law. Many women choose to wear loose headscarves called shayla, while others select headscarves that cover more, including al-amira, khimar, and niqab. Other women choose the most conservative, burqa or chador. The primary difference between the varied styles of head-coverings is how covering they are. As seen with Amini’s death, the looser and more revealing the headscarf, the more immoral a woman is perceived to be by the Morality Police. In past protests and revolutions, a loose or non-existent headscarf was the choice of many females involved. 

Synchronized with global outrage, women in Iran have cut their hair in response to Amini’s death and many other unlawful deaths in the Islamic Republic. The cutting of one's hair has a dual meaning. Not only does it reject and defy imposed beauty standards, but in Iranian literature it symbolizes mourning. Women cutting their hair in tears and outrage is a poetic and bold act of fury hard to ignore. In huge waves of support, women around the world have also cut their hair with the same anger and defiance felt by those in Iran. Whether in the streets of Iran or on Instagram live, the response to the death of Masha Amini has brought Iranian injustice to the forefront of global issues. 

Similar to cutting one’s hair, large numbers of Iranian women have loosened or altogether stopped wearing their head coverings to show their defiance of the dress code. The act, while subtle compared to other forms of protest, shows the courage of the Iranian people and their refusal to allow more young women to perish as Amini did. Loosened hijabs are exhibited in the subways, streets, and other highly public places in many major Iranian cities, including Tehran, the capital. Though fear has not prevented walk-outs in the streets, many female activists are interviewed or quoted in anonymity due to their concern for retribution by their government–the same government, in fact, that gave clearance to security forces to “severely confront troublemakers and anti-revolutionaries,” and has an ongoing block on internet access, a way to prevent the free spread of information. (1) The continuing internet shut-down effectively cuts off mainstream communication between activists in Iran and any international counterparts or supporters they may have. This proves dangerous as it halts the speed and efficacy of world-wide support coming through for Iran’s dissenters. 

Several countries have also condemned Iran’s silence towards Mahsa Amini’s death. On October 17th, the European Union added 11 people and 4 entities to its list of sanctions, bringing the count to a total of 97 individuals and 8 entities that are sanctioned. The measures include a travel ban, asset freeze, prevention of making funds available to these persons, and a ban on equipment that would aid in internal repression or monitoring telecommunications. On October 26th, the United States imposed sanctions upon 10 Iranian individuals who played a decisive role in the brutal crackdown of protests occurring in Iran and across the globe. These sanctions entail that all property and interests in property are to be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, prohibiting any direct or indirect contact with these individuals. The US is also imposing sanctions upon the Ravin Academy, a school that trains students in cybersecurity and hacking and the Samane Gostar Sahab Pardaz Private Limited Company, a primary operator of social media filtering in Iran, due to their role in having aided or assisted the Iranian government in limiting the freedom of expression or assembly of citizens in Iran.

Furthermore, Amini’s father claims that, in Iran, police treatment varies based on religion, status, wealth, ethnicity, and various other factors, and Amini, as a Kurdish woman, was subject to this mistreatment. In ways, this is similar to America, where strong prejudices against marginalized groups impact how they are viewed by law enforcement officials. The global uproar in response to the injustice faced by Amini is perhaps a larger cry by the international community in response to police brutality. 

Information retrieved from Time, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Amnesty International.