SAİDA ŞİRZAD

Sanandaj- Protests erupted in Iran and Rojhelat Kurdistan following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini in Tehran by Iran’s so-called “morality police”. The protesters taking to the streets have demanded the overthrow of the Iranian regime. The Islamic Republic of Iran has used inhuman practices such as execution, arrest, torture, murder, kidnapping, and poisoning schoolgirls to suppress the protests. Despite everything, people still take to the streets of Iran and Rojhelat Kurdistan.

‘Families are afraid that their daughters will be poisoned’

In Iran and Rojhelat Kurdistan, more than 7,000 schoolgirls were poisoned at girls’ schools between November 2022 and March 2023. As the new academic year begins in Iran, families worry about sending their daughters to school due to last year’s poisoning at girls’ schools. NuJINHA spoke to psychologist B. about the chemical attacks on girls’ schools and the concerns of families. “Families are afraid that their daughters will be poisoned at schools. This is what the government aimed to do. The aim of the chemical attacks on girls’ schools was to have an illiterate generation of women so that women will not demand their rights.”

‘The aim of the regime is to deprive girls of education’

Sociologist R. thinks the chemical attacks on girls schools were an attempt by the regime to keep women at home. “The aim of the poisonous gas attacks on girls’ schools is to prevent girls from attending school. The chemical attacks create fear and panic among people,” she told NuJINHA.

‘I am afraid that something will happen to her’

The mother of one of the students who was subjected to the chemical attack said, “When I learned that a chemical attack had been carried out against my daughter' school, I rushed there. I will never forget that day. When I arrived there, I saw my daughter and her friends having difficulties in breathing. Now, I am afraid that something will happen to her if I send her to school again.”

Another mother said, “A poisonous gas attack was carried out against my daughter's school. We took her to hospital because she had difficulty breathing. At the hospital, I was worried about losing her and still I am worried about her.”