Two years ago on Sept. 16, 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini died in Tehran in the custody of Iran’s morality police, which had detained her for not “properly” wearing her hijab.
Amini’s death initiated the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and across the world and raised awareness about the suppression of women’s rights in Iran. In Los Angeles, the Iranian community came together in marches across the city, including at USC.
Tannaz Julian was among the L.A. marchers in 2022.
“Mahsa Amini was just such a big movement for all of us in the Iranian community that we hoped that if we united all together, that there would be a change or a difference in the government,” Julian said.
Even if that change didn’t come, “as a community I think we did feel the difference,” she said.
For many like Julian, Amini’s death felt like a wake-up call for people to address the social and political issues of Iran more candidly, and to come together as a community to strive for change in hopes of Iranian women’s rights and freedoms.
“I think people are more willing to be themselves and feel more free and empowered, and if they do go against the government, that they’re not alone in it,” Julian said.
Julian believes there is a lot more work to be done by the international community to support the rights of Iranian women.
“I feel like every country or internationally, they’re just worried about themselves, which is fair, but I feel like if we were to support Iran’s people and actually make a difference, then it would be possible,” she said.
Kamyar Moradi, a journalism student at USC, participated in the protests in 2022 while he was in Montreal visiting family.
“Next thing you know you see like some streets closed, and you see like this like noise that just gets louder and louder,” Moradi said, “and then all I could see was ... just what felt like a mass of culture and a mass of ... people who wanted just to fight, people who wanted justice.”
Protesting Amini’s death made Iranians like Moradi feel closer to their cultural values.
“I heard someone describe what it meant to be like from Iranian descent, and it’s (that) you kinda have to have optimism built into you because if you don’t, then you’ll let the reality of your situation consume you,” Moradi said.
According to Amnesty International, Iranian authorities have continued to suppress the rights of women and girls, along with freedom of expression, in the aftermath of Amini’s death and the Women, Life, Freedom movement.