Concerns are escalating regarding an Iranian student who was detained after staging a protest by stripping down to her underwear, an act fueled by alleged harassment over her attire. Activists are expressing worry that the authorities may resort to confining her in a psychiatric facility.
In footage circulated on social media platforms, the student—who is enrolled at the distinguished Islamic Azad University in Tehran—was seen outside the campus on Saturday, clad only in her bra and underwear as a form of protest.
Reports from Persian-language media operating outside of Iran indicated that university security personnel confronted her about her clothing, forcibly ripping off her headscarf and other garments. In response, she removed most of her clothing as an act of defiance.
Additional videos showed her bravely striding down the street before being forcibly taken away in an unmarked vehicle by plainclothes officers.
Many activists now consider her a symbol in the ongoing battle for women’s rights in Iran, particularly following the high-profile case of Mahsa Amini. Her death while in custody over an alleged violation of the country’s dress code ignited months of widespread protests across the nation just two years ago.
Nevertheless, Iranian officials have claimed that the student suffers from a mental health disorder, a statement that has activists worried it serves as a rationale for confining her in a psychiatric institution.
Amnesty International has issued an urgent demand for her immediate and unconditional release, asserting that her actions were a protest against the abusive enforcement of the mandatory veiling laws by security forces. The organization stated, “She removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot praised the young woman’s bravery, telling France 2, “I commend the courage of this young woman who demonstrated her resistance and transformed into an icon for women’s rights in Iran.”
According to Iran’s stringent dress code, women are required to wear headscarves and baggy clothing whenever they are in public spaces.
Responding to the incident, the Iranian embassy in Paris sought to clarify what they deemed “misleading information.” They contended that preliminary assessments indicated the student was grappling with familial issues and had a precarious mental state.
The embassy added, “Signs of abnormal behavior had reportedly been noted by those in her vicinity, including family members and fellow students.” This allegation has raised eyebrows among activists who suspect authorities aim to label protesting women as mentally ill.
“Iranian authorities systematically exploit involuntary psychiatric hospitalization as a mechanism to stifle dissent, portraying protesters as mentally unstable to delegitimize their voices,” asserted Hadi Ghaemi, the director of the New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran.
According to Iran Wire, an independent news site based outside of Iran, the woman is a “seventh-semester student of French literature” with no documented history of mental health issues.
In Paris, several dozen demonstrators rallied in support of the student, including members of the feminist collective Femen, who stripped to their undergarments while brandishing slogans like “Woman. Life. Freedom.”
Chirinne Ardakani, a lawyer and member of the Iran Justice collective that organized the protest, voiced concerns over the lack of information about the student. “We have no news of her. But what we do know is that the regime’s narrative is alive and well—she is now being painted as unstable and hysterical.”
Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi criticized the authorities, alleging they are “rehashing the same tired narrative that the protester has a mental disorder,” while calling the transfer of dissenters to mental health facilities “the gravest form of torture.”
Another esteemed Nobel laureate, Narges Mohammadi—currently imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin facility—declared that the student turned her body into a “symbol of resistance.”
From her prison cell, Mohammadi sent out a message through social media, saying, “Women bear the consequences of their defiance, yet we refuse to submit to oppression… I call for her release and an end to the harassment faced by women in our society.”
Edited by: Ali Musa
alimusa@axadletimes.com
Axadle international–Monitoring
