The death of a 22-year-old girl shocked the women of Iran

                                                             Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

The death of a 22-year-old girl shocked the women of Iran. Women demonstratively throw away headscarves and burn them, cut their hair in public… In this way, they raise their voice of protest against headscarves, demand that the state free them from the obligation to wear them.

The wave of mass demonstrations rose after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She was detained by morality police in Tehran for improperly wearing the hijab and was sent to the Faraja Center, owned by police and military intelligence, for a debriefing. In that center, the girl had a heart attack, after which she was immediately taken to the hospital. Three days later, on September 16, she died, after which people began to hold demonstrations in the streets in different cities of the country.

Protesters blame the moral police for Mahsa’s death, claiming that the girl died as a result of a brutal beating by law enforcement officers in the police station. The police deny that the girl was abused. Anti-government protests continue, there are casualties and deaths.

It should be noted that the Morals Police, officially known as Gasht-e Ershad, is tasked, among other functions, with ensuring that women’s clothing conforms to the authorities’ interpretation of “proper” clothing. Police officers can stop women and assess whether their hair is showing too much from under a headscarf, pants and coats are too short or tight, or whether a woman’s makeup is conspicuous or not. Penalties for breaking the rules include fines, imprisonment or whipping.

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