Iraqi-born, Swedish politician Abir Al-Sahlani has expressed her solidarity with women protesting in Iran, using a speech to the European parliament to cut off her hair while proclaiming: “Women. Life. Freedom.”
“Until Iran is free, our fury will be bigger than the oppressors. Until the women of Iran are free we are going to stand with you,” Abir Al-Sahlani said during the speech. She then went on to use a pair of scissors to cut off a large chunk of her pony tail.
“Jin. Jiyan. Azadi,” she said, which is Kurdish for “Woman, Life, Freedom”
“We, the peoples and the citizens of the EU demand the unconditional and immediate stop of all the violence against the women and men in Iran,” she said during her speech to the European assembly.
Al-Sahlani’s show of solidarity with women in Iran comes as weeks of protests continue following the death of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
The protests have evolved into the most widespread challenge to the nation’s authority in a number of years, with schoolgirls becoming the most recent participants.
In recent days, schoolgirls have taken to the streets in Iran, removing their headscarves and chanting “death to the dictator”.
Other people around the world have been showing solidarity with women in Iran, joining protests that have taken place in major cities. Oscar-winning actors Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche have also shared videos of themselves cutting off their own hair in solidarity.