Concern grows for Iran woman detained over underwear protest
Activists fear the student – seen as a feminist icon after stripping outside her university – could be confined in a psychiatric institution
Concern grew on Tuesday for an Iranian student arrested after stripping to her underwear in protest at alleged harassment over her dress, with activists worried authorities could confine her in a psychiatric institution.
In videos shared on social media, the woman, a student at Tehran’s prestigious Islamic Azad University, was seen protesting outside the campus on Saturday dressed only in her bra and underpants.
Persian-language media outside Iran have reported university security guards harassed her over what she was wearing, ripping her headscarf and clothes. She then took most of them off in protest.
Other footage showed her defiantly walking down the street before plain-clothes agents bundled her into an unmarked car and drove her away.
It remains unclear where she is being held.
Many activists regard her as a new icon of the struggle for women’s rights in Iran, more than two years after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for an alleged breach of the statutory dress code for women, sparked months of nationwide protests.
