Iran Sentences Women's Rights Activist to 74 Lashes

Roya Heshmati is a 33-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman's rights activist.  In April of 2023 Roya removed her hijab and posted photographs of herself on social media appearing in public without her hijab in defiance of Iran's restrictive laws against the rights of women.  Shortly after the posting of these photographs, Roya was arrested by the Iranian police charged with multiple offenses such as "promoting promiscuity, propaganda against the regime, and encouraging people to commit corruption."  Initially, Roya was sentenced to a term in prison.  However, the judge decided to reduce her sentence to a fine and 74 lashes, which was carried out on Jan. 03, 2024.  Even as she was about to be whipped, Roya remained defiant.  As she prepared to be lashed, Roya was ordered to put on a hijab prior to her lashing, but she refused to do so, even after she was threatened with an additional 74 lashes if she refused.  Despite this, Roya maintained her defiance and refused to put on a hijab.  


Eventually, two female guards entered the prison, forcibly placed a hijab on Roya's head, and then handcuffed her so she could not remove it.  Yet even then, Roya remained defiant.  As the lashing was carried out Roya said "In the name of women, in the name of life, the clothes of slavery are torn, our black night will be dawn, and all the whips will be axed."

Roya's actions were inspired by the death of Mahsa Amini.  In the Fall of 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, died in police custody after being arrested by Iranian police for violating the dress code.  This led to massive demonstrations across the nation where many women removed their hijabs or even burned them to protest Masha's death and the nation's strict dress codes.  However, instead of easing the restrictions Iranian authorities have proceeded to crackdown, installing cameras to catch dissidents who try to remove their hijabs, subjecting women like Roya to either prison or lashing, and seeking to pass even more restrictive laws against women.  It seems that unless there is a regime change in Iran, women will not be free of this horrific oppression.  Perhaps the time has come for the so-called "Feminist Groups."  In the West to start standing up for women who are suffering from actual oppression at the hands of Islamist regimes like Iran.  


Sources:

"Iranian Woman Whipped 74 Times for Refusing to Wear a Hijab."  The Telegraph.  Jan. 07, 2024.  Accessed from https://shorturl.at/glIKL.

Joffre, Tzvi.  "Kurdish-Iranian Woman Whipped 74 Times for Not Wearing Hijab."  The Jerusalem Post.  Jan. 07, 2024.  Accessed from https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-781118.

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