Who Was Jina Mahsa Amini?
Amini was born in the Kurdistan province of Iran on September 21st, 1999. Coming from a Kurdish background, her family gave her the name "Jina," which means “life” in Kurdish. However, because Iran’s Islamic Republic had restricted names that weren’t Persian or Islamic, she had to be officially registered with the Persian name Mahsa.
She was known as a quiet yet ambitious young woman, set to start her university studies in late 2022. Just months before the tragic event, Amini had started running a boutique, opened by her father on her behalf. Unfortunately, the young woman never got to pursue her studies or see her business flourish.
Her Controversial Detention and Death
2022 was a politically problematic year for Iran; its disaffected people were restless after years of economic struggles and the increased austerity measures, inevitably leading to mass protests and strikes throughout June and July. In an effort to stabilize and assert authority over the country, the government of President Ebrahim Raisi was building up measures on security, surveillance, and censorship, among which were state-endorsed enforcements on dress and behavior.
On September 13, Mahsa and her brother, Kiarash Amini, arrived in Tehran to visit relatives. Right after leaving the train station, the Gasht-e Ershad, Iran’s morality police, seized Amini due to her “improper” clothing and stated she would be taken to a detention center for a corrective class on obligatory public attire. The Aminis protested, explaining they had only just arrived in the city and were therefore not aware of the recent enforcement guidelines, but they were met with brute force in response. Other women who were also detained by the Gasht-e Ershad that day reported that Jina Mahsa Amini was gravely beaten in the patrol van for resisting the police.
That same evening, at the detention center, Amini collapsed. The CCTV footage released by the government revealed that she had suddenly fallen while speaking to a female officer. Amini was taken to the hospital where she went into a coma and later passed away. The exact cause of Amini’s sudden collapse and death still remains unclear, due to complications in the examination and investigation process. The family was initially informed by the police that their daughter had suffered a heart attack and a stroke. However, the government coroners stated that the reason for Amini’s death was, in reality, “multiple organ failure caused by cerebral hypoxia” and claimed the collapse was the result of complications from brain surgery later found in her health records. Amini’s family rejected that there had been any issues or complications during the process of their daughter’s brain surgery, which had taken place when she was only eight, and they dismissed the possibility that the cause of Amini’s death was due to any underlying or pre-existing health issues. Further examination of Amini’s body after her death wasn’t allowed by the government, but the photos and videos taken during her hospital visit indicated major trauma to her head.
Protests Following Amini’s Death
The initial reaction and protest were local. Amini’s death stirred up the deep-rooted, decades-long movement among Kurds against the unjust violence and killing of Kurdish women. During her funeral, in the Kurdistan province, the slogan that is chanted in all Kurdish women’s funerals was chanted as a call for the liberation of women: “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Woman, Life, Freedom). As the funeral evolved into a protest, women were seen removing their headscarves, an act that evolved into a worldwide symbol of protest in no time. After security forces clashed with the protesters at Amini’s funeral, news of the confrontation spread like wildfire. Protests began breaking out in other cities of Iran, and soon in all parts of the world; women were chanting the same slogan in the streets, removing their headscarves, and cutting their hair in support of Iranian women and in remembrance of Jina Mahsa Amini.
Although Iran has had several significant protests over human rights concerns, the protests ignited by Amini’s death resulted in the biggest eruption of public unrest within Iran since the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution. The protests not only brought women together under the same cause, but also impacted men like Amini’s brother, who were equally concerned about what an increasingly unlawful and violent government would mean for the wellbeing of their loved ones. By the end of 2022, 200,000 protesters were detained and a minimum of 500 others were killed.
For a while, the global media’s attention to the issue and the continuous protests provided hope for the situation. Many more women were seen in public without wearing headscarves more frequently; there was no Gasht-e Ershad in the streets, and talks of the obligatory dress code being scrapped altogether were circulating in the nation. However, with the public turmoil subsiding at the start of 2023, the government began implementing heightened restrictive measures. In January, harsher sentences regarding the dress code were announced; in March, surveillance cameras began to be used to ensure more control; and by July, the Gasht-e Ershad returned to the streets.
Two Years Since Amini’s Death
Today marks the second year since the mass movement erupted in Iran following the controversial death of Mahsa Amini. This year, once again, hundreds of women worldwide gathered together in her remembrance, including in southern Turkish cities like Diyarbakır and Adana. It’s also been reported by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi’s foundation that 34 women prisoners went on a hunger strike in an Iranian prison on Sunday to honor this crucial anniversary. Opposition to the authoritarian Islamic regime still faces a dire situation amid unhindered executions and repression of women, but the resilience of these movements continues to inspire hope and justice.
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