NPR

In Iran Protests, Women Stand Up, Lift Their Hijab, For Their Rights

Iran is one of the only countries where women and girls must wear the traditional garment by law. These activists are breaking the rules in protest.
Atefeh Ahmadi, a 29-year-old freelance translator from Tehran, lets her hair show in Turkey. She fled Iran after staging protests for Iranian women's rights.

Tension is rising between Iran and the United States these days. But Iran's leaders are facing pressure from various sides at home, too.

Ordinary Iranians are mounting protests that refuse to go away, despite a sharp response from the authorities.

The demonstrations began to make news late last year, focusing largely on economic hardship. As those protests continued in cities around the country, another movement re-emerged: young women standing up against the enforcement of conservative Muslim strictures

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