The compulsion to cover hair and body for women (and to some extent for men) is a law in Iran. Iranian women have been pushing the boundaries of this unpopular compulsion over the decades. To enforce this inhumane compulsion, in 1995, the Islamic Republic established an above-the-law organisation called Gasht-e-Irshad, known as Morality Police in the international news these days.

On 13 September 2022, #MahsaAmini, an innocent 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman from a town called Saqez, was on holiday in Tehran's capital. She hopped on the subway with her brother to visit their cousins at a park in Tehran. The morality police arrested her when they got out of the train station. They kept insisting that they were new to Tehran and just visiting, pledging to Morality Police forces to let them go, her brother said. Eyewitnesses say she was hit in the head while getting arrested and being forced to get into the police van. His brother protested this, but according to their father, he was beaten up so much that his clothes were ripped. Mahsa then collapses in custody and passes away some hours after. The X-rays show that her skull was fractured, but the police insist that she passed away due to natural causes. Although her family has announced multiple times that she did not have any underlying health condition, the Islamic Republic propaganda has claimed she had various health conditions, from a history of seizures and brain surgery as a child to diabetes.

Mahsa’s situation is just one of the numerous examples that Iranian women have to go through in their day-to-day life. This horrific event ignited fury and protests nationwide. Women are leading these protests and have started to take off their head covering, which has become a symbol of compulsion, and cut their hair off, a symbol of mourning for women in Kurdish culture. Men, shoulder to shoulder with these brave women, are calling for freedom of choice and expression. As usual, instead of listening to the nation’s voice, Islamic Republic has put its mask of oppression and violence on, hammering the protesters down. The Islamic Republic has also practically shut access to the Internet to prevent protesters from organising and the international community from hearing Iranian people. The state media has reported 35 casualties, with some reporting that this number is at least 76 and rising.

We, the students, professors and graduates of the universities across New Zealand, stand with Iranian women and men in their human right to express themselves and choose their lifestyle freely while condemning the Islamic Republic's actions in using violence against protesters. We urge our colleagues around the globe and in Iran to join us in supporting the peaceful protests of the Iranian people.