Women of Iran named Time's 2022 Heroes of the Year
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A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini outside the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul during a demonstration. Photo: Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The women of Iran have been named Time magazine's Heroes of the Year for leading the mass protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country's morality police.
Driving the news: A tribute written by former Time columnist Azadeh Moaveni acknowledges women's roles in past protests in Iran that have built toward this moment, while highlighting the singularity of the current movement.
- The tribute is accompanied by a series of photos of Iranian women. "I am proud of myself and my country’s women who stand up for their rights in a braver manner than any man in the world," reads the caption below a photo of a woman identified as Shima.
Excerpts:
- "These younger women are now in the streets. The movement they’re leading is educated, liberal, secular, raised on higher expectations, and desperate for normality: college and foreign travel, decent jobs, rule of law, access to the Apple Store, a meaningful role in politics, the freedom to say and wear whatever," Moaveni wrote.
- "The average age of arrested protesters is notably low—Iranian officials estimate as young as 15. I can only conclude that when a generation’s aspirations for freedom appear tantalizingly within reach, the more humiliating the remaining restrictions seem, and the less daunting the final stretch of resistance feels."
- "No one, not the officials in Iran nor governments around the world who’ve made hostility to women a brand of politics, saw the power of a girl standing on a utility box, demanding to be left alone."
The big picture: The Iranian government has cracked down aggressively on protests that began in mid-September in response to the death of 22-year-old Amini.
- Police claimed Amini was not mistreated in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the country's mandatory hijab law. Her family has cast doubt on those claims, saying she had no pre-existing conditions and blaming authorities for her death.
- Protesters have faced violence — at times lethal — by security forces, internet restrictions and mass arrests.
- The nonprofit Iran Human Rights estimated Wednesday that at least 458 people have been killed since the protests began, including 63 children.
- Protesters held a three-day economic strike this week.
