2022 was a year that saw the immeasurable strength of women coming together to fight human rights injustices. From the streets of Tehran, to the forecourt of the US Supreme Court in Washington D.C, women have united to protest, get heard, and make demands for better laws.
Here, we look back on the most significant demonstrations held by women across the world in 2022.
Iran
The death of Mahsa Amini in September, killed while under police custody for not wearing her head scarf according to the Islamic Republic’s laws, ignited nationwide (and international) protests which continue today.
Hundreds of thousands of women and girls took to the streets in both major cities and small towns, demanding the end of the mandatory hijab-wearing laws for women and the end of the morality police — the group that enforces these laws.
Anti-government protests escalated as slogans and hashtags such as “Woman, Life, Freedom”, “#MahsaAmini”, “Bi-Sharaf, Bi-Sharaf, Bi-Sharaf” (“Disgraceful”) and “We are all Mahsa, We Are All in This Fight Together” reverberated throughout the world.
Women cut their hair in solidarity, burned their headscarfs, danced on the streets and wrote and released songs.
Since the protests began, the European Parliament, Canada, New Zealand and have either cut ties with Iran entirely, or imposed sanctions against the country — citing human rights violations by the government.
The United States
When Roe V Wade was overturned in June, women around the world came out in force to protest. How else could we express our utter dismay, shock and horror at a shift that looked set to restrict abortion access across many parts of the United States? Thousands of abortion rights activists gathered outside the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. Many more gathered outside abortion clinics, escorting women through to safety inside. Soon, protests would occur across the major cities in the world, including Paris, Berlin, Melbourne and Sydney.
Today, with most abortions banned in at least 13 states in the US, many women and girls are being forced to travel interstate to get abortions. Some are not able to afford or access such travel, and so must continue with unwanted pregnancies.
This week, Planned Parenthood Great Plains, an affiliate of Planned Parenthood, announced it began offering teleconferences with off-site doctors for patients seeking medication abortions at one Kansas clinic, with the goal of having more days when patients can go into the clinics to get medication abortions.
In August, Kansas voted to retain state constitutional protections for abortion rights, and its abortion providers have been flooded with requests for appointments from women in neighbouring states including Oklahoma and Texas — where the ban is much stricter.
Ukraine
Since Russian forces began its invasion of Ukraine in February, the women of Ukraine have taken up arms and fought to save their country.
Despite bearing the worst of the conflict, they have united to learn new skills to survive. Classes have been given to women in learning how to de-activate landmines. They have joined the military in large numbers, including in combat positions. They have led impactful volunteer and fund-raising campaigns, cooking and preparing food for internally displaced citizens, and continue to run family businesses and tend to domestic, caring duties.
Last month, Ukrainian officials announced that up to one-fifth of its armed forces are now women.
Afghanistan
Despite the unspeakable repression of human rights faced by the women and girls of Afghanistan, they have come out in protest against their government, often risking their lives to do so.
After the suicide attack on ethnic Hazara students at Kaaj Educational Center in Kabul in September this year, women and girls took to the streets to demand an end to attacks on Hazaras.
In Kabul, Bamiyan, Ghazni, and Nangarhar, women were faced with Taliban authorities who fired live ammunition into crowds and often beat protesters.
Since the Taliban took over in August last year, Afghan women have held peaceful protests, demanding equal rights and justice while chanting the common refrain: “Bread, Work, Freedom.”
They have been quietly reacting to the Taliban’s gradual deteriorating of women’s rights — with schools for girls closed, women barred from travelling without a male chaperon, and this week — the banning of universities for women and girls.
Despite this, women continue to show up and express their outrage, determination and resilience. After the latest announcement banning women from attending university, female students showed up to the gates of universities, only to be blocked by Taliban security forces.
The above are just some of the examples of women rising up across the world. We should all be paying attention.