In early September, a female Iranian citizen was beaten to death by the police force for allegedly violating the strict female dress code that is in place for the women of Iran. There were videos released by authorities, and the citizens of Iran, particularly the female population, expressed extreme distress. Her name is Asra Panahi, and she has become the face of this movement.
In solidarity, many women have begun protesting against the strict dress code, amongst other laws that restrict the rights and freedoms of women in Iran. There have been several isolated incidents over the years, but the mass protests of women standing together have caused an uproar in the country.
In a historic move, Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi who represented Iran at the Asian Climbing Competitions finals in Seoul, competed without hijab, disobeying the Islamic Republic's restrictions for female athletes. pic.twitter.com/KvxE5NoQLi
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) October 16, 2022
This is a major event in the country’s history and surrounding areas with similar restrictions against women’s rights. However, social media platforms are not seeing much discussion over the prominent issue. After analyzing #AsraPanahi over the last month, following her brutal death, Sprinklr Analytics found a 55 million reach count with a 19 thousand mention count. With the significance of this event and the protests that have followed, it is surprising that the numbers are so low.
However, over 98% of the mentions have been recorded as negative sentiments. Out of the trending topics analyzed by our team this month, this was the first topic with such high negativity surrounding it.
Prominent social justice warrior, Britney Spears has tweeted about the issue, and as an opinion leader on social media platforms, her followers’ retweet and support her voice.
Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom.
— Britney Spears 🌹🚀 (@britneyspears) October 16, 2022
These protests will continue to rise as the citizens of the community fight for their civil rights movement. Hopefully, the awareness of the issue will be spread and increased on social media in order to gain funding and educational awareness as to what is happening in the revolution of women’s rights in Iran. Below is a tweet from Swedish athletes supporting the cause.
It’s about human rights, tonight we were the voice for our girls in Iran ♥️ pic.twitter.com/7nDwHiHmHv
— Kosovare Asllani (@KosovareAsllani) October 11, 2022
Author: Louisa Glazunova
