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On September 16th, 2022, Mahsa Amini was detained by a “Guidance Patrol” in Iran for allegedly wearing a loose headscarf and thus violating Iranian dress laws.  She was beaten and subsequently died. Her death sparked a furious response and protest among Iranian women and girls, who posted videos to social media (the hashtag #Mahsa_Amini) showing them removing their headscarves and cutting their hair.  Women around the world did the same as a gesture of solidarity.  Their protest quickly spread throughout the capital, Tehran, and many other communities throughout Iran.

Over the ensuing days, schoolgirls increasingly came to be at the forefront of the anti-regime protests. There has been widespread support for the protests from the international community.

These protests were met by government misinformation and denials of responsibility for Amini’s death and by incredible levels of violence from security forces, which have targeted and raided schools as part of their brutal response.

In light of current events in Iran and the decades-long oppression of women and suppression of their rights, the 60th Education International Executive Board, meeting in Brussels on 9-10 November 2022:

a. denounces the Iranian government’s attack on women’s and girls’ fundamental human rights and on their lives;

b. calls on the Iranian authorities to end their violence against women and girls and calls on the authorities to enact legislation that enshrines women’s right to freedom of association, freedom of expression, bodily autonomy, and security of the person;

c. continues to stand in solidarity with Iranian teacher unions in their struggle for their right to free quality public education for all and for gender equality at all levels of society;

d. calls for international solidarity with the people of Iran and for further pressure against the Iranian regime to hold them accountable for their repressive policies and actions against women and girls;

e. calls on EI member organisations to send letters of protest and messages to the Iranian authorities advocating for an end to the violent attacks on women and girls and the full respect of their fundamental human rights.