Four years on, Iranians reflect on impact of ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’

What the report says

Four years after Mahsa Amini’s death in Tehran, Iranians are still debating the legacy of the 2022-23 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, Al Jazeera reports. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, was detained by morality police in September 2022 for alleged dress-code violations and died three days later. Her death triggered protests that spread from her hometown of Saqqez to cities across Iran and later drew international support.

The article says the movement helped reshape social norms, especially around women’s dress. Some Tehran residents told Al Jazeera they feel more able to choose how they appear in public, and that families and businesses have become somewhat more accepting of women not wearing the hijab. At the same time, the mandatory hijab remains in force, and local and international rights advocates say enforcement has continued through arrests, closures and periodic crackdowns. Al Jazeera also notes that reports emerged this week of detentions in places including Isfahan, Rasht and Mashhad, though officials have not confirmed those accounts.

The piece places the anniversary in a wider rights context. Amnesty International said in a new report that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during the protests and called for accountability, naming dozens of officials it said should be investigated. The UN’s fact-finding mission has also said at least 550 people were killed during the unrest, including children and women, across much of the country. The anniversary underscores how Amini’s death became a symbol of resistance, while the government continues to defend the dress code and criticize those who defy it.