Eight years after she was handed a 10-year prison sentence in 2016, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi continues to fight for gender equality while behind bars. The women’s rights activist on Sunday urged the United Nations to criminalize gender apartheid.
Mohammadi’s letter read “we reaffirm our commitment to achieving democracy, freedom, and equality and to defeating theocratic despotism.” She and 34 other female prisoners went on hunger strike to mark the two-year anniversary of Iran’s “Woman Life Freedom” movement.
The movement erupted in September 2022 after Iran’s ‘morality police’ brutally murdered Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old Kurdish woman, who was allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. What followed was an explosion of courageous protests, many of them women-led, for women’s rights along with other human rights, and an end to Iran’s theocratic regime. Iranian security forces responded by shooting, arresting, beating, and torturing protesters, killing at least 551 protesters including 68 children and 49 women as of September 2023.
Despite being imprisoned, Mohammadi is one of Iran’s most prominent human rights and gender equality activists. She is known for her work as the director of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), an organization banned in Iran. Last year, she went on hunger strike in solidarity with Baha’is, a persecuted religious group in the country. This year she also called for an end to the war in Gaza.
A part of Mohammadi’s activism has involved speaking out on behalf of fellow imprisoned women. In December 2022, she wrote to the BBC detailing physical and sexual abuse of female prisoners in Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she is detained. In June this year, Mohammadi started a broader campaign against sexual assault called “One Voice Against Sexual Assault and Harassment.” She urged people to share their own stories to raise awareness.
Mohammadi’s fight for human rights has been recognized by renowned global figures. Last year, Peace News Network wrote about how many leaders praised and supported Mohammadi after she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Among these were Emanuel Macron, Barak Obama, and former past recipients including Muhammad Yunus and Oleksandra Matviichuk.
Mohammadi has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times, jailed for most of the past two decades. She has suffered severe health issues while detained. In February 2022, following what she later learned was a heart attack, authorities repeatedly denied Mohammadi access to adequate healthcare, endangering her life. She also suffers from serious cardiac issues, long-standing gastrointestinal disorders, and most recently, painful spinal injuries. In August, Mohammadi was again denied critical medical care.
She also has restricted time with her family, including her husband and twin daughters.
Mohammadi has said that she will continue to stand for freedom and equality, even if it costs her her life. She remains firm that imprisonment, psychological torture, and solitary confinement will not stop her.
International human rights organizations including the UN, Amnesty International, Center for Human Rights in Iran, Front Line Defenders, and many others, demand that Iranian authorities immediately release Mohammadi.
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is a journalist in Bangkok. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
