24-year-old Yasaman is in prison for her peaceful protest. Call for her immediate release! | View in browser.

Dear John,

On March 8, 2019, International Women’s Day, 24-year-old Yasaman Aryani and her mother took off their headscarves and walked through a women-only train carriage in Tehran, handing out flowers.

Yasaman spoke of her hopes for a future when all women would have the freedom to choose what to wear, “me without the hijab and you with the hijab”. After a video of this went viral, Iranian authorities arrested her.

After the authorities held Yasaman in solitary confinement and threatened to arrest her family if she didn’t “repent”, they sentenced her to 16 years in prison.

Call on the Iranian government to free Yasaman immediately.

Yasaman’s cruel punishment is part of a wider crackdown on women campaigning against forced veiling. Since 2018, dozens of women, including Yasaman’s mother, Monireh Arabshahi, have been arrested.

Around the world, human rights defenders are under attack, particularly women defenders, who are doubly persecuted for who they are and the rights they are trying to protect.

Everyone has the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression, including Muslim women to decide whether to wear the hijab or other forms of Islamic dress. No matter where we live, whether in Canada or Iran, women have the right to make decisions about our bodies and our lives, including what we wear. Yasaman has been imprisoned for peacefully advocating for this right.

Thank you for urging Iran to stop criminalizing the work of women human rights defenders like Yasaman.

In solidarity,

Jackie Hansen
Gender Rights Campaigner
Amnesty International Canada

P.S. Today is International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, a time to recognize and support the courageous work that women human rights defenders do to protect all our rights. Will you mark this important day by joining the call for Yasaman’s freedom?

Amnesty International firmly opposes all forms of Islamophobia and
condemns any and all acts of white supremacist racism and violence
against Muslim communities.