Woman, Life, Freedom: How a Protest Movement Changed Iran

Iranwire – Two years have passed since the largest protest movement in modern Iranian history – the birth of a movement whose slogan, Woman, Life, Freedom, became both its rallying cry and its symbol.

Although the movement did not achieve its ultimate goal, the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, it has led to significant social change and continues to shape the lives of Iranians every day.

After the protests of 2022, issues surrounding women’s rights, the freedom to choose one’s clothing, and the fight against discrimination became central to public discourse. These topics are no longer fringe concerns; they have become national social issues.

On the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death while in the custody of the Morality Police, IranWire spoke with people from various social classes and activist circles to discuss the impact of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement on their lives and its broader achievements.

A Nation United

One of the most remarkable outcomes of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests was the unification of the Iranian people. The protests spread to more than 160 cities across Iran, from major metropolises like Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Tabriz, and Sanandaj to smaller towns and border villages. The movement quickly crossed regional boundaries, drawing in diverse groups such as women, students, workers, and ethnic and religious minorities.

From the start, slogans emphasizing solidarity among Iran’s different ethnic groups were prominent.

Nina, a cinematographer who spoke to IranWire under a pseudonym due to the ongoing repression of artists in the country, believes the movement’s most important achievement has been fostering the belief in the slogan: “If we don’t stand together, we will fall one by one.” 

She said: “It may have been only two years since the night when women in Tehran gathered outside Kasra Hospital or when women in Saqqez removed their headscarves at Aichi cemetery, but for us – for those who became ‘we’ under a hail of pellets, in the shadows of batons, fleeing plainclothes agents, resisting interrogations – it feels like a lifetime. A hard, but hopeful life.”

Like many of her colleagues, Nina decided not to work in Iranian cinema under the Islamic Republic’s restrictive laws after the protests began. Her decision was supported by her friends and family.

For months, Nina has had no steady income, but those around her have helped her find small stage and costume design projects. Additionally, she supports a project that sells products made by rural women, helping them modernize their offerings while sharing a portion of the profits.

The project has connected her with rural women across the country. “You’ve probably heard about the changes in cities like Tehran, Shiraz, and Tabriz,” she told IranWire. “But the real change has happened in the villages, where women heard the true message of Mahsa’s protests and became aware of their rights. Even rural men have made significant progress on women’s issues. I’m not saying all the country’s problems have been solved, but today we at least know what those problems are – and that we have no one but ourselves to solve them.”

‘We Realized How Much We Didn’t Know’

One of the most profound effects of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests was the awakening to the depth and extent of discrimination against women and the call for women’s rights.

Mehran, 41, a husband and father of two daughters, shared his experience with IranWire: “I always thought of myself as a non-traditional, egalitarian husband and father. But after Mahsa’s protests, I realized just how much I did not know about the struggles and issues women face in society – even in my own family.”

Mehran reflected on specific issues, such as the ban on women entering stadiums. “I knew this ban was a form of discrimination, but like a frog slowly being boiled, I had become indifferent to it. The same went for the issue of mandatory hijab.”

Two days after Mahsa’s death, Mehran apologized to his wife and daughters for the times he had reminded them to observe the mandatory hijab. “Before a girl died over a piece of cloth, I truly thought it wasn’t worth fighting about or risking legal trouble. But after that, I realized that if there is a belief behind that cloth capable of taking someone’s life, we must all fight against it.”

Ali, a 19-year-old student, was one of the thousands of young people who protested the Islamic Republic’s policies during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Ali told IranWire: “Our protests didn’t end, they’re still ongoing. We continue to resist by opposing the values of the Islamic Republic and standing in solidarity with women.”

He added: “My friends and I boycott cafes that refuse entry to women without the mandatory hijab. We won’t go to stadiums until women have the right to enter freely and equally. The Islamic Republic treats women as enemies, so we do everything we can to protect and support them.”

For over forty years, the Islamic Republic has created privileges for devout, religious citizens, granting them special benefits. This preferential treatment, rooted in the Islamic Republic’s interpretation of Islam and Shia law, was largely accepted by religious majorities. However, during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests, many devout believers chose to distance themselves from the regime in response to its blatant violence. 

From the early days of the protests, images emerged of women and men, who typically adhered to the Islamic Republic’s prescribed appearance, standing against mandatory hijab laws and the suppression of protesters. Many of these individuals, despite their religious beliefs, opted to change their appearance in solidarity with the movement, not wanting to be seen as supporters of the Islamic Republic.

Mozhgan, a woman who believes in Islamic hijab, is one of those who came to understand the discrimination she had benefited from after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. At 39, she is the head of a religious school and, despite disagreeing with many of the Islamic Republic’s political policies, has received special privileges as a devout woman adhering to the dress code.

She told IranWire: “The first time I was honored at school for wearing a chador, doors started opening for me – student selection and education opportunities came much easier than for others who didn’t wear the chador. As a child, I didn’t understand why some classmates seemed to resent me. As an adult, I realized that some people, even my neighbors, distanced themselves from me because of my clothing.”

“I couldn’t understand why they didn’t see that I was just a Muslim woman, and in many ways opposed to the policies of the Islamic Republic. I didn’t understand why people treated me the same way they treated the Islamic Republic’s supporters.”

For Mozhgan, the turning point came when news of Nika Shakarami’s death—a teenage girl killed during the 2022 protests – became public. “I realized why people distanced themselves from me,” she said. “I had always enjoyed the privilege of survival, respect, and comfort in the Islamic Republic. I found work easily and never faced insults from security personnel. Meanwhile, the lives of young people like Nika, born in the same soil as me, were being taken for not wearing this dress or for protesting the murder of a young girl at the hands of the morality police.”

The final breaking point for Mozhgan came when she heard the news about the deliberate targeting of protesters’ eyes. The case that moved her was the intentional shooting of Niloufar Aghaei, a midwife who lost one of her eyes during a doctors’ protest in December 2022. After that, Mozhgan decided to take off her chador and resigned from her position at the religious school. 

“The chador was the attire of the most respected and beloved figures in my life,” Mozhgan said, “but I couldn’t accept that young people were being killed while wearing it.” After reading the news one morning, she went to the school principal’s office, submitted her resignation, and left without hesitation. “In that school, we were educating people who would go on to benefit from the Islamic Republic’s policies. My religion had been taken hostage by these interests.”

Since that day, Mozhgan has not worn a chador, though she still observes her hijab.