Cutting hair and publicly burning the veil are the images that have been repeated most in recent days throughout Iran. Women have adopted these two gestures in their demonstrations as denounces the repression they sufferThis activism is going viral on social media and aims to protest against the conservative government.
“Justice, freedom and no to compulsory hijab” This is one of the slogans that accompanies the campaign that began with the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman who died on September 16 after being arrested by the police for wearing her veil incorrectly.
Abir Al-Sahlani was the first to echo these protests this week. The Swedish MEP demonstrated her support for the Iranian people cutting a lock of hair in front of the rest of the camera during the European Parliament debate. She later shared the video on Instagram and other personalities joined the protest movement.
Under the hashtag #hairforfreedom ('hair for freedom' in English), French singers, activists and actresses such as Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Angèle, Jane Birkin and Charlotte Gainsbourg have posted a video on their social networks in which they appear cutting their hair in solidarity with Iranian women. Anonymous women from all over the world have also joined this wave of solidarity.
Images of young people have also been published They have removed the hijab in universities and high schools in TehranOne of them, in which several students are seen without the veil in front of a photo of the country's main leaders, has received the support of thousands of people.
This initiative was organised by international human rights lawyer Richard Sedillot in collaboration with French lawyers Julie Couturier and Christiane Feral Schuhl to support the protests.
A post shared by SOUTIEN FEMMES IRAN (@soutienfemmesiran)
This gesture of cutting one's hair or removing one's veil is a symbol that challenges the ultra-conservative policy of the Iranian government, which forces women to comply with the strict dress code.
The hijab has been compulsory since the 1979 Revolution for all women and girls over the age of seven. Leader Ayatollah Khomeini claimed that women were naked without it. Failure to comply with the law leads to arrest, imprisonment and fines. Iranian tradition and beauty standards also dictate that Women should wear long hair, although it remains hidden by said veil.
Taking off her hijab and cutting her long hair It is a revolutionary actWith this symbol, women demand freedom and challenge authority. This act has even reached social media, where many young women have supported the protest with the hashtag #No2Hijab ('no to hijab', in Spanish).
“In our literature, cutting hair is a symbol of protest,” he explained to the CNN Faezeh Afshan, a 36-year-old Iranian chemical engineer living in Italy, added: “If we can cut our hair to show that we are angry… we will do it.”
Iranian women who lose a close relative sometimes cut their hair as a sign of grief and anger, she explains. Egypt Independent“For us, Mahsa was our sister. So, in this way, we are protesting,” explained Shima Babaei, an Iranian activist living in Belgium who was arrested in 2018 for publicly removing her veil.
What prompted women to cut their hair in protest against the death of Mahsa Amini was a video shared on social media. In it, you can see an image of an Iranian woman performing this symbolic act over her brother's coffin.
Javad Heydari, 36, was fatally shot at one of the protests over Amini's death more than a week ago. His sister can be seen kneeling, crying and throwing strands of hair she is cutting off with scissors onto the coffin. This gesture moved the Iranian people and has now become a symbol of protest at demonstrations across the country.
An Iranian woman cuts har hair at the funeral of her brother Javad Heydari who got killed in Iran protest over the brutal death of #MahsaAmini
By cutting their hair, Iranian women trying to show their grief and anger.
Islamic republic must be gone.#_Zero ... pic.twitter.com/r7g7WoSxyS
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