Seven months after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was killed at the hands of Iran’s so-called morality police in September, protests across the country calling for the rights of women and girls continue.
Amini’s death after she was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s conservative dress code for women sparked sustained protests led by women and young people. The Iranian government has detained over 20,000 protesters and killed more than 500, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been tracking the movement. Since November, a string of suspected poisonings has taken place at more than 50 girls’ schools across the country.
While it isn’t yet known who is behind the attacks, “One thing is clear: It’s systematic and it is targeting young women because the young women are the ones who dare to stand up,” said Elham Gheytanchi, an Iran expert and instructor of sociology at Santa Monica College, in a March 8 conversation with PBS NewsHour Digital Correspondent Nicole Ellis.
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