Women, Life, Liberty: Volt stands in solidarity behind Iranian women and demands an end to government violence!

On September 13, Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab in accordance with the laws of the Islamic Republic. The young woman was severely beaten and killed in custody.

In response, unprecedented protests broke out and spread across the country. People are demanding women's rights, resisting hijab rules, the authoritarian regime, years of oppression, human rights violations and arbitrary arrests.

This is not the first time that Iranians have risen up. In 2009, the Green Revolution was triggered by rigged elections. An estimated 1,500 people lost their lives in the process. Protests flared up again and again after that. But the current scale is extraordinary.

Grief and anger have united young and old, men and women, different faiths and backgrounds. As an emancipatory act of protest, women in the Iran protests publicly burn their hijabs, cut off their hair and shout "Women! Life! Freedom!" and "We are all Mahsa, we are all in this fight together." Names of other victims, such as Sarina Esmailsadeh and Nika Shakarami, are also repeatedly heard.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 445 people have died since September 16, including 63 children (as of November 25). 14,000 people are said to have been imprisoned since the protests began in Iran, some of them facing the death penalty. 

With every day of protest and every brave woman who walks the streets unveiled, Iranian women's newfound self-confidence becomes more irreversible. All over the world, people are standing up for women's rights in Iran: whether it's the Iranian soccer team at the World Cup in Qatar refusing to sing the regime's anthem or the British band Coldplay having the song "Baraye" sung on stage by Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani at their concert in Buenos Aires, which was broadcast in cinemas in 81 countries.

Volt Europa stands in solidarity behind the citizens of Iran in their struggle for freedom!

Was can we do in order to help Iranians? 

Be loud and amplify the voices of Iranians! 

• Share carefully researched information on social media
• Join protests and demand action from policymakers
• Call on media to give a stage not to the Iranian regime, but to Iranians and human rights experts.

What must governments do?

• Investigate companies that facilitate censorship & restrict access to social media.
• Stop deportations to Iran, impose sanctions on regime officials & punish spying on Iranians abroad 
• Push for prosecution of Iranian officials involved in human rights abuses & for the payment of compensations

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