Iran Women Go Hijab-Free, Hold Hunger Strike On Mahsa Amini Death Anniversary

On September 16, 2024, numerous women in Iran's Tehran stepped out without a hijab (head scarf) and women prisoners went on hunger strike. This was done on the second death anniversary of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody for allegedly defying the Theocratic country's rigid dress code. The words 'Jin, Jiyad, Azadi' (Women, Life, Freedom) echo the streets of Iran even two years since the loss of the young woman. 

Mahsa Amini 2nd Death Anniversary

Mahsa Amini's death in 2022 sparked a huge movement against the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader. According to Kurdish media, her parents have been under house arrest and prohibited from even visiting the Aichi Cemetary in Saqqez, where she was buried.

Despite recently intensified crackdowns on women who defied the dress code or protested against the government, several Iranian women from various backgrounds resisted the regime's mandates in solidarity with Mahsa Amini on her second death anniversary. 

From Tehran's affluent northern suburbs to the working-class locales in the southern areas, women from different parts of the city were seen in public without hijabs even after sunset. This unified defiance was a powerful statement of bravery against the government's control over their choices.

Azadeh,  a 25-year-old student at Tehran Sharif University, told the Associated Press, "My quasi-courage for not wearing scarves is a legacy of Mahsa Amini, and we have to protect this as an achievement... She could have been at my current age if she did not pass away."

Women Prisoners Revolt

The women prisoners at the notorious Evil Prison in Tehran, where about 34 inmates have been held since Mahsa Amini's death, joined the protest by holding a hunger strike. The prisoners aim to revolt "against the government's repressive policies," Iran Wire reported. Some of these prisoners include Nobel laureatte Narges Mohammadi, Verisheh Moradi, Mahbobeh Rezaei, and Parivash Muslimi.

Iran's Crackdown On Women

In April 2024, videos of women being dragged from streets into police vans started ciculating online, showing the country's morality police taking down women without hijabs. According to reports, the government also targeted businesses where women need not cover their hair in public.

The morality police have installed surveillance cameras to track women without a hijab and impose a fine. Even aerial drones were used to monitor the 2024 Tehran International Book Fair and Kish Island for uncovered women, a recent United Nations report said.

The police is also reportedly punishing women for posting photos online without a hijab. Alef, a woman who was arrested for posting a photo with her hair open, told the BBC, "I didn’t really care enough to hide who I am or where the photo was taken. I wanted to say, we exist."

Alef described, "A male officer told me to take off my coat and lie down. He was holding a black leather whip and started hitting me all over my body. It was very painful, but I didn’t want to show weakness." Several women have also died or got severely injured for protesting the dress code.

Deaths And Injuries Suffered By Iran Women 

In August 2025, a woman named 31-year-old Arezou Badri was left paralysed after she fled an attempted police vehicle impoundment related to a headscarf violation. A month after Mahsa Amini's death, Kosar Eftekhari was shot by a riot officer— first in the genitals, then in the eye, causing blindness. In October 2023, 16-year-old Armita Geravand died after being in a coma for about a month after she was attacked on the Tehran Metro on 1 October 2023 by officers enforcing the hijab.