Brave women of Iran named Time's 2022 Heroes of the Year for anti hijab movement

Protesting women of Iran, deemed a symbol of courage and valour, have been named Time magazine's Heroes of the Year for their anti-hijab protests and demands of scrapping the tough dress code after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country's morality police. Iranian women were honoured with the title with a tribute penned by Time columnist Azadeh Moaveni who acknowledged their roles in the protests in Iran, current and past ones, that cemented the momentum built leading to the movement.

"I am proud of myself and my country’s women who stand up for their rights in a braver manner than any man in the world," the caption below a photo of a woman identified as Shima read as Time declared women of Iran as the Heroes of the Year. 

Brave Iranian women 'undeterred,' knowing the consequences

Moaveni hailed the women of Iran as heroes, saying that the younger women were now also in the streets joining the movement to assert their fundamental rights. "The movement they’re leading is educated, liberal, secular, raised on higher expectations, and desperate for normality: college and foreign travel, decent jobs, rule of law, access to the Apple Store, a meaningful role in politics, the freedom to say and wear whatever," Moaveni wrote in his tribute. He furthermore, noted that the women remained undeterred knowing the consequences such as forced detention by the Iranian military guards, torture, and other tactics of reprisal for speaking up.

The average age of arrested protesters "is notably low", Moaveni reminded. Iranian officials estimate that detainees are as young as 15. Moaveni emphasized that no one, not the officials in Iran nor governments around the world who have made "hostility to women a brand of politics, saw the power of a girl standing on a utility box, demanding to be left alone."

"I can only conclude that when a generation’s aspirations for freedom appear tantalizingly within reach, the more humiliating the remaining restrictions seem, and the less daunting the final stretch of resistance feels," wrote Azadeh Moaveni.

Iranian women sparked a global uproar over the tragic death of Amini while she was allegedly tortured in morality police’s custody in Tehran. Her father accused the officials of lying about her death stating that she did not have a pre-existing cardiac problem and that the Iranian regime attempted a coverup by declaring that her death was caused by a heart attack. Amini was arrested for a loose hijab and tight trousers, which were in breach of the country's strict dress code laws. A mass movement erupted with young girls and women, and angry masses, clashing with the Iranian security personnel who pursued protestors in riot gear. Iranian women, angered at the country's repressive laws, torched garbage cans and screamed to overthrow the Islamic Republic's hardline cleric regime as they burned their mandatory street head coverings in public in front of the security forces in a defiant move.