From Women’s Rights to Human Rights: How Iranian Women’s Social Justice Movements Become Invisible

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Iranian regime exerts significant control over its citizens and violates its citizens’ human rights with harsh punishment for dissidents. The control and violence it wields over Iranian women recently came to the forefront as the “Women Life Freedom” movement erupted in Iran in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, who was arrested and murdered by the Iranian government for incorrectly wearing her hijab, a compulsory garment worn by Iranian woman. The government responded to the movement with government-sanctioned violence, censorship, imprisonment, and sexual assault. Despite these examples of control and power by the Iranian regime, Iranian women and citizens around the world used social media to highlight the government’s women’s rights violations. This study asked two questions: 1) To what extent was Iranian women’s rights central in social media posts, and 2) How did the narrative change over time?

METHOD: We scanned several social media platforms and scrubbed for posts related to the Women Life Freedom movement. Our post inclusion criteria included keywords like “women life freedom,” “Mahsa,” and “free Iran,” and content posted within the first 6 months of the movement. This process yielded 128 posts which we transcribed and described visual content for analysis. Post transcriptions and descriptions were coded by three researchers using content analysis principles. We addressed rigor and trustworthiness with multiple reads and views of posts, collaborative coding, peer debriefing, and member checking.

FINDINGS: We found that during the first month of the protests, social media posts centered around Iranian women’s rights, resistance against oppressive laws, and support for Iranian women and the movement. By month three, most posts focused on general civil and human rights violations by the Islamic Regime, general support for the movement devoid of explicit support for women’s liberation, and centered Iranian men's participation and harsh treatment. At month six, posts continued to focus on human and civil rights, the need for change in Iranian leadership, and male protesters became the movement’s protagonist. Discussions about women’s rights or the violence women protesters faced was negligible

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings showed that over time the narrative about the Women Life Freedom movement shifted from one of Iranian women’s rights and bodily autonomy to one focused generally on human rights centered on the male protesters. This narrative shift is an example of how the Iranian government wields power and violence as a suppressive tool to control the narrative of civil unrest and diluted the messages of the “Women Life Freedom” movement to lessen the importance of women’s rights issues. Social media diluted the movement further by shifting its focus from the violence women faced to the government-sanctioned violence experienced by all Iranians. This shift hinders efforts to combat gender-based violence and address the specific needs of women. For social media to be an effective tool for political mobilization and to discuss women’s rights and gender-based violence, attention must focus on Iranian women’s leadership and how they experience the power and control of the Iranian regime.