The battle for respect and freedom in Iran continues

I used to be 18 years outdated and dwelling in Iran once I was first arrested and despatched to a detention middle for not correctly masking my hair.

I used to be held in a crowded room with all the opposite ladies who had been arrested for comparable causes. The guards yelled at us, starved us, and pushed us from room to room so we’d match within the restricted house within the middle.

In truth, I by no means revered the legal guidelines written to regulate what I wore and what faith I ought to consider in. By some means, the morality police noticed my hair out of my scarf whereas I crossed the road with my good friend and pulled us into their van. They known as me a “whore” and instructed me that I used to be making an attempt to seduce males by exhibiting off somewhat of my hair, and due to that they’d not be capable of go to heaven.

The police listed unlawful objects they accused us of getting earlier than sending us all to the detention middle.

The objects included eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and eye shadow; I used to be checked for 12 objects, and I used to be not even sporting any make-up on the time.

They instructed me to signal the shape. I refused to signal it.

“Why ought to I signal? I don’t put on any of those. I can show that in the event you simply give me a serviette,” I stated.

They added one other merchandise to my record: Failure to adjust to the police … test!
Now it was 13 objects. The longer your record, the heavier the punishment can be.

Sure. That is once I was thought-about a prison in Iran. What was my crime? Displaying my hair, with the intention to seduce males and maintain them from going to heaven after they died.

That was the primary time I needed to keep the evening in jail.  After that, and earlier than I left the nation, I used to be arrested six extra instances. Nicely, to be sincere, the final time that they tried to arrest me was unsuccessful as a result of there was no more room within the van. I used to be sporting pink nail polish on the anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s demise. (He died in 1989.) Police stated that nail polish is forbidden in Islamic nations, and sporting pink nail polish that day was thought-about very disrespectful, however I bought away with it.

Thirty years later, in September 2022, I heard the information that Mahsa Amini was crushed to demise in the identical jail I used to be within the first time I used to be arrested: Vozara Detention Middle.

Mahsa’s homicide sparked a revolutionary rebellion in Iran that’s ongoing. These days, many girls and women in Iran not only do not wear scarves, however they don’t even carry any scarves with them to placed on in case of an emergency. That is the final word definition of bravery. 

The regime has misplaced its legitimacy. Safety forces are unable to deal with the civil disobedience. They attempt to arrest or punish some girls right here or there. With the financial collapse brought on by corruption and incompetence, one may say that the dictator Ali Khamenei is on borrowed time.  

That’s the reason I, and hundreds of my compatriots, take to the streets, rain, or shine. It’s why we’ve continued to battle from overseas, for a yr. As we collect, our voices united, we declare that oppression won’t extinguish the flame of resilience, and her legacy will proceed to encourage a future the place freedom and equality prevail. It’s why we rise with the ladies of Iran.