People have been protesting in Iran. These protests were sparked when a 22 year old woman, Mahsa Amini was arrested by the Iranian mortality police on September 13th and died 3 days later on the 16th.  She was arrested because she was allegedly violating Iran’s strict rules concerning the hijab.Wearing the hijab is mandatory by law in Iran and Mahsa is not the only person to have suffered from these attacks. Although the police said she died from a heart attack, there are reports of her being tortured in prison, and that officers beat her over the head with a baton. Many women in Iran are beaten in the streets and forced into police vans due to the strict Iranian dress code.

Mahsa’s death enraged ordinary Iranians and many of them ,especially women, are protesting by burning their hijabs and cutting their hair on video, as well as marching and demonstrating. Women are also going out without their hijabs on, which is illegal in Iran. On the surface, the protests are about a strict dress-code, however, the dress-code is a reflection of the oppression of Iranian women, a patriarchal society and police brutality. The slogan chanted by protestors, ‘Death to the dictator’ epitomises the battle against harsh Iranian government rules – Iranians are tired of silently suffering at the hands of people supposed to protect them and the abuse of power by their leaders.  ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ , another slogan, shows how women are striving for liberation in all areas, including what they can put on their own body. This isn’t the only time a government has interfered with the wearing of the hijab.

On the other end of the spectrum, however much less violent and harsh, France banned the wearing of full face covering such as the niqab and burka in public spaces in 2011. It seems that everyone has a say on what Muslim women should wear, except for the women themselves.