Amnesty International Calls for Immediate Release of 'Girl of Revolution Street'

Amnesty International, in a statement released on Wednesday, February 4, condemned the compulsory hijab in Iran as 'discriminatory and humiliating' and called for the immediate release of a young woman known as the 'Girl of Revolution Street.' The human rights organization also reiterated its demand for Iranian authorities to cease legal actions against women protesting the mandatory hijab and to end this 'discriminatory' requirement. Earlier in January, a video was shared on social media showing a young woman without a hijab waving her white scarf on a height in Revolution Street, Tehran. This act was immediately interpreted as a protest against the mandatory hijab, and the woman, whose name and identity are still not accurately known, became known as the 'Girl of Revolution Street.' In this context, Amnesty International noted in its statement that it has heard from 'two independent sources' that the family of this young woman has not disclosed her name due to 'security concerns.' The only information available so far has been released by Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer. On Sunday, February 1, Ms. Sotoudeh announced on her Facebook page that she had followed up on the girl's situation and visited the location where the video was filmed. This lawyer and human rights activist wrote in her local investigation that the girl had been 'briefly released after her arrest and then re-arrested.' Ms. Sotoudeh also stated that she still does not know the girl's name but added that 'she has a 19-month-old child and is 31 years old.' Following Ms. Sotoudeh's interview, Amnesty International has now called for the 'immediate and unconditional release' of this young woman. Since the 1979 revolution, the use of hijab has been mandatory for Iranian women, and a law regarding this was passed shortly thereafter. According to Islamic Penal Code, 'Women who appear in public without proper hijab will be sentenced to imprisonment from ten days to two months or fined from 50,000 to 500,000 rials.' As stated in Amnesty International's statement, the mandatory hijab in Iran has been violating women's rights for decades, including their rights to freedom of expression and religion.