Iranian student arrested in her underwear is latest symbol in fight for rights

Iranian student arrested in her underwear is latest symbol in fight for rights

Washington Post-Nov15th2024

November 15, 2024 at 1:00 a.m. EST

A young Iranian woman was recorded this month arguing with security forces while stripped to her underwear at her university in Tehran. The videos, first shared by a citizen journalism account online, showed her arrest by plainclothes authorities — and quickly went viral as yet another symbol of Iranian women standing up to government repression.

The woman’s identity and whereabouts remain unclear, as does a full accounting of the incident that took place at Islamic Azad University on Nov. 2. Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the case. In a statement, Amnesty International said the woman was “violently arrested” after removing her clothing in protest of the “abusive enforcement” of Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.

The incident recalled a similar arrest two years ago, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody after she was detained for an alleged dress code violation. Her death set off months of nationwide protests, which were eventually crushed. Since then, the government has cracked down hard on dissent to prevent a repeat of that unrest, enacting even more laws restricting women’s rights.

The two publicly available videos from Nov. 2 show that the woman’s exchange with police happened in plain view of students on the university campus in northern Tehran, but was far from the central bustle of the capital.

“I can’t believe [what I’m seeing],” someone says off camera during the first video. The footage, which was taken around midday in Iran and lasts just one minute, is filmed from behind a curtain as the woman outside, dressed only in her bra and underwear, appears to be arguing with university security personnel on the steps of the school.

A video recorded some time later shows the still-undressed woman walking down a street and captures the moment when several people in plain clothes hustle her into a car.