Their Voices Are Our Responsibility

"Women, life, freedom," chanted Minoo Majidi minutes before she was brutally killed by security forces at close range, leaving three kids without a mother.

Minoo is just one of at least 450 people who died protesting Iran's oppressive regime after the murder of 21-year-old Mahsa Amini by Iran's morality police.

But why?

Over 450 people have not sacrificed their lives in hopes of wearing a miniskirt to school or work. 1 4 000 people are risking their lives in Iran, not because they wish to show off their thighs, but rather because they are fighting for their freedom and justice as human beings.

The slogan 'Women, Life, Freedom' is one whose message is clear. It was chosen because it cemented that Iranian women would not back down until they got what they so clearly asked for; freedom of life.

Now they have been silenced and their internet, the only means of communication with the rest of the world, has been cut off.

The job of projecting their voices has been handed over to us. Thousands of people across Asia and Europe have already gone to the streets in protest, demonstrating their solidarity with the people of Iran. Women and men alike have made the fact that they stand with Iranian women clear through social media posts that demand justice for innocents.

And yet it is still not enough.

There are still women outside of Iran who are being treated with cruelty and disrespect simply because of their gender. There are nameless, countless women all over the globe whose lives have been ended in unimaginable ways and their stories have not been told, their bravery not thought of, their screams smothered.

Being privileged individuals, we must keep our minds and hearts open and use our voices to cast out those of less able people. We must ensure every scream is heard and every plea is answered.

We, as a people, must stand behind one another, uniting as one to build a wall that resists the oppressive and protects the oppressed.