On the 16th of September (2022), Mahsa Amini (known by her Kurdish name Jina Amini to her family) died in a Tehranian hospital. Though the Iranian government claims otherwise, Amini's family contests she had no prior health conditions, making the fatal stroke she suffered strange, to say the least.
Some aspects of women's rights in Iran (and the 'morality police') must be explained in order to understand how these protests have come about. Shortly after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the new ruler (some might say dictator) decreed all Iranian women must wear a hijab in accordance with Islamic law, despite the woman's faith or background. For context, below is a depiction of the different types of Islamic headwear:
"Boris Johnson's burka jibe: Why do some Muslim women wear the veil?" BBC News
This distinction is important as different regions in the Middle East mandate different types of headwear (a common misconception about Middle-Eastern countries is that all women are forced to wear burkas or niqabs, which is not true). The Guidance Patrol (colloquially known as the 'morality police') -- which is a sect of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (or FARAJA for short) -- enforces the mandatory dress code for women in Iran.
Amini was visiting her brother in Tehran. On the 13th of September, while out with her family, she was arrested by Guidance patrol; the police chief of Tehran would later make a statement attributing her arrest to overly tight paints and an improperly worn headscarf. She was transferred to the custody of Moral Security (another sect of FARAJA). There are eyewitnesses claiming Amini was beaten while still in the police van, though FARAJA denies this. Only two hours after being arrested, Amini's family was informed she had suffered a heart attack and a brain seizure, and was being transported to Kasra Hospital. Again, she was -- as described by her family -- a 22-year-old with no prior health conditions. Amini died, three days later, and was in a coma since her arrival at Kasra.
Journalist Niloofar Hamedi covered Amini's coma (and eventual death), and the Iranian government, as a consequence, arrested him a short while after. Hamedi's coverage allowed the Iranian public to know of the circumstances around Amini's death; protests ensued later that day on September 16th (the day of Amini's death).
Below is a video of tens of thousands of protesters gathering at Amini's death site, forty days after the tragedy occurred.
If you have read any of my Monthly Language Learning Journals, you are already familiar with the Iranian government's response to these protests: a widespread shutdown of the internet and communication services -- the most intense one Iran has ever experienced. This was in an effort to disrupt protesters' abilities to gather, but it has far from silenced anyone. This is an ongoing situation, so, unfortunately, I do not have an ending to this historical event yet. Maybe one of my future cultural posts will be an update.
References
BBC News. "Mahsa Amini: How one woman's death sparked Iran protests - BBC News." 5 October 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZMvrkU_eEY.
Fassihi F, Engelbrecht C. "Tens of Thousands in Iran Mourn Mahsa Amini, Whose Death Set Off Protests," NYT. 27 October 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/world/middleeast/iran-protests-40-days.html.
Skopeliti C. "'This Generation is really brave': Iranians on the protests over Mahsa Amini's death," The Guardian. 27 October 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/27/this-generation-is-really-brave-iranians-on-the-protests-over-mahsa-aminis-death
