The WFTU, representing over 105 million members in 133 countries around the world, and its Working Women’s Committee, condemn the death of 16-year-old Armita Garawand, who was in a coma for several days after an argument over her refusal to wear a headscarf in the Tehran metro.
This tragic death recalls that of Mahsa Amini, in September 2022, who was beaten to death for not wearing her headscarf properly.
This event comes just days after the Iranian parliament approved a bill on September 20, that provides for prison sentences of up to ten years for any woman who does not wear the headscarf in public, including juveniles.
The WFTU reaffirms its position that both in Iran and in the whole world, women should be able to dress freely according to their own aesthetic, traditional or religious criteria, without restrictions from the police or fear of repressive laws.
As in previous cases of workers’ mobilisations in Iran, e.g. the 2022 strikes in the petroleum sector, and the mobilisations of the pensioners for an increase in their pensions in Spring 2023, so in the issue of women’s freedom, the WFTU stands by their struggles for better living and working conditions. At the same time, it remains firmly committed to the struggle against the aggressive blockade and imperialism of the US and its allies directed against the Iranian people.
