Hema Rad

Sanandaj- While the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” protests have continued in the cities of Iran and Eastern Kurdistan, also known as Rojhilat, for eight months, the Iranian authorities have used all kinds of repression to quell the protests. Being at the frontline of protests, women remove their hijab as a resistance against patriarchal laws and oppression. Although women, who remove their hijab in public spaces, have received threats, they do not take a step back from their struggle against the patriarchal mentality.

‘Women should wear whatever they want’

B.N. is a woman joining the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” protests in Eastern Kurdistan. She and a group of women leave a note reading, “We have nothing to lose” on the windshield of cars belonging to women in order to call on women to resist the mandatory law. “I drive without a hijab. I leave this note on the windshield of cars belonging to women to tell them that they should not be afraid of driving without a hijab. Women have the right to wear whatever they want. They should wear whatever they want,” B.N. told NuJINHA.

‘We will keep resisting’

B.M. asked us to keep her name confidential due to security reasons. She believes that the uprising led by women in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan is the uprising of women in the Middle East and the world. “Women have been oppressed in the country for years, so we grew up by struggling. We've been fighting the patriarchy since we became aware of our gender.”

Speaking about the difference between their mothers’ struggle and their struggle, she said, “Each generation of women has its own struggle. Our mothers struggled against the burdens imposed on them. Resistance was part of their personality and they raised their daughters to struggle against the patriarchal system. Our mothers struggled for years for their daughters for the next generations to become more independent. Thanks to the struggle of our mothers, women are now on the frontline of the protests.”

‘We must fight even if we are afraid’

Recalling Abdullah Öcalan’s words saying, “A country can't be free unless the women are free,” B.N. said, “Living in a society without discrimination is important. We must fight even if we are afraid. Some do not leave their safe houses but they lie to themselves. They should stop lying to themselves. We will win or die; there is no other option for us.”