United States/Iran: Masih Alinejad subjected to threats, slander for protesting mandatory face veil
Location: Iran, Tehran
Date: July 21, 2022
Journalist Masih Alinejad has been subjected to threats and a vicious slander campaign for protesting against mandatory face veil for women. As a journalist and a woman, Masih is no stranger to threats and intimidation aimed at silencing her work. The recent wave of attacks on her have severely compromised her safety, with state-linked media painting her as a "demon" and inviting harm to her person. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the slander campaign against Masih and calls for immediate action against those threatening her life. We stand in solidarity with the journalist and join her in demanding an end to the policing of women’s bodies.
Masih is on the organizing committee of a movement named "WalkingUnveiled" which entails women in Iran taking pictures and making videos of themselves in public places without the veil. The protest raises critical questions on state policies aimed at policing women.
Masih took to Twitter to announce the protest, which began on July 12. As she started documenting video and pictorial footage of women in Iran visiting public places without face veils, Masih was hit with a barrage of online hate.
She was also threatened online and offline with abduction, harassment and death. Instead of investigating the threats to her safety, the Iranian state appears to be fanning the threats to Masih. State media launched a vicious campaign demonizing her for insisting on women’s rights.
As a woman and a journalist, Masih has repeatedly challenged patriarchal structures and institutions that insist on modesty culture and trapping women in misplaced notions of shame and guilt.
Scores of Iranian women responded to Masih's call for protest and discarded the face veil in public places.
The Coalition for Women in Journalism is appalled at the state-linked threats to Masih Alinejad's safety. We stand in solidarity with Masih and strongly condemn the slander campaign against her. This isn't the first time the Masih is being threatened for daring to question state policies. Since 2005 she has been targeted by the Iranian state. See CFWIJ's detailed timeline documenting threats to Masih over the years to know more. It is high time that the government of Iran is held accountable for its fascist approach to women’s rights, press freedom and freedom of speech.
Tomorrow Iranian women will shake the clerical regime by removing their hijab and taking to the streets across Iran to say #No2Hijab. This is called Women Revolution.
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 12, 2022
In iran #WalkingUnveiled is a crime.
Iranian men will also join us.#حجاب_بی_حجاب pic.twitter.com/pu3uUA1teM
Today (12 July) I remove my hijab to protest against compulsory hijab which is crime in Iran. Forcing women to wear hijab is not part of Iranian's culture.
— Nagging Shrew (@Naggingshrew) July 12, 2022
It is the culture of Taliban, ISIS and Islamic Republic. Enough is enough.
#No2Hijab#WalkingUnveiled#حجاب_بی_حجاب pic.twitter.com/CDWQ58TYuY
Iranian women are joining a massive anti-hijab campaign across Iran, shooting videos of themselves defying the Islamic Republic’s #hijab rules in public places.#No2Hijab #WalkingUnveiled pic.twitter.com/06ZP7WgwFj
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) July 12, 2022
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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