The following is excerpts of an article published in The Hill recently.

This year, we have witnessed perhaps the most significant protests against the Iranian regime since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In response, the bloodthirst of the Mullahs has been on full display. 

Despite this, Iranian women continue to protest for the basic rights. Though the world may ignore the plight of these women as the news cycle moves on, as it always seems to do, these protests persist. And so do the consequences. 

Iranian women face daily threats of violence. More than 90 girls’ schools across Iran have suffered from apparent poisonings. Last month, Iran put on trial the brave women reporters who visited Mahsa Amini — the woman whose death sparked the protests —  in prison and told the whole world what the regime had done to her. 

But where are the voices of the feminists in the West today? Where are the cries of the champions of human rights? Where are the women’s rights advocates calling for justice for Iranian women? Where are all the media headlines giving them the attention they deserve? Where are our leaders around the world drawing their red lines?

Don’t Iranian women deserve equal justice as much as anyone else? Rarely have we seen such desperate bravery, and rarely have we seen such global indifference. The hallmark of this era may very well be the absence of outrage when women are repeatedly abused by societal power structures.  

There should be no greater shame on the world leaders, who profess concern for Iran’s long-suffering people, but who seem to be on the path again — as in 2009 — of ultimately abandoning them to their abusers. 

Women in the West have rightly asserted their own dignity and rights for decades. Can those same women not raise their voices louder in support of Iranian women and their quest for the same rights and dignity?

They must forcefully call on their governments to not only speak up but to take action on behalf of Iranian women. It matters now more than ever. Tweets are not enough. They don’t create justice, tolerance, harmony and human rights. 

Iranian people will continue their uprising and one way or another, will put an end to this brutal regime.

When it does, it will be women who played a crucial role in their country’s liberation.