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| Nahid Jafari |
In an interview with Voice of America, Nahid Jafari, a lecturer at Farmingdale State College in New York, discussed the various challenges faced by women in Iran and the processes that led to the current nationwide protests.
She emphasizes that these protests are not only against the mandatory hijab but are also a protest against the lack of agency over women’s bodies and lives:
“The protests are not just about ‘take the hijab off my head.’ It’s not about the government coming and saying, ‘Fine, no more headscarf.’ No! Women are saying, ‘Give me control of my body, let me make my own choices.’ My body, my choice. I should be able to wear whatever I like, whether it’s open or covered. No one should have the right to tell me, ‘Today you are dressed well, today you are not.’ Today is acceptable, today it’s not.”
According to Jafari, with the increase in the number of women pursuing higher education in Iran, the fight for equal rights began within the family and then spread to the streets:
“Girls went to university. They even earned master's and doctoral degrees. Slowly, they began to fight within their families, pushing for the removal of the hijab. The struggle began within the homes. Women stood up to these traditions and the religious laws. Then we saw that the movement, led by women, moved from the family home to confront the government. When they stepped outside, they wanted to be free to express themselves.”
Jafari also highlights the violence against women by Iran's morality police (the Guidance Patrols) in recent years, including the death of Mahsa Amini, noting that “over the past decade, we saw that women were taking pictures with their heads uncovered in the streets and sharing them on social media. They moved from their private lives to sharing these photos in public. Then we saw the police arrest these women with their heads uncovered, and women began resisting the Guidance Patrols, refusing to get into the police cars. We also saw that when women were arrested and forced into cars, men came to help them. That’s when we saw Mahsa Amini being detained, and after the violence from the Guidance Patrols, a young woman died. That’s when society exploded.”
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Nahid Cəfəri: “İranda qadınların mücadiləsi öncə ailə daxilində başlayıb, sonra hökümətin qarşısına çıxıblar”