Iran: The White Wednesdays campaign, including its creation, objectives and founding member(s); treatment of supporters by Iranian authorities (2016-February 2019)
1. Overview
Sources describe White Wednesdays as a social media campaign that uses the hashtag "#whitewednesdays" (BBC 3 Jan. 2018; UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91). According to sources, the campaign was launched in May 2017 (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91; The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018). Sources explain that the campaign was initiated to oppose the mandatory dress code imposed on women in Iran that requires them to wear a hijab [headscarf] (The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018; UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91). According to sources, the campaign encourages women to wear white headscarves [or other white clothing (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91) or to remove their hijab (The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018)] on Wednesdays (RFE/RL 30 Jan. 2018; The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018; UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91), and to post images of themselves on social media (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91).
Sources report that the White Wednesdays campaign was instigated by Masih Alinejad (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91; The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018). According to sources, Alinejad is an Iranian journalist based in the US (BBC 3 Jan. 2018; Amnesty International 2 Aug. 2017, 8). Amnesty International also describes her as a "women's rights activist" (Amnesty International 2 Aug. 2017, 8). According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), she "campaigns from abroad against the compulsory hijab" (RFE/RL 20 Apr. 2018).
Sources report that Alinejad works for [the US government-funded (The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018)] Voice of America (VOA) (CBC 31 Jan. 2018; The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018). RFE/RL states that she is also a contributor to Radio Farda (RFE/RL 20 Apr. 2018). Radio Farda is the RFE/RL Persian-language broadcast service and provides news about Iran (Radio Farda n.d.). According to Radio Farda, RFE/RL receives funding from the US Congress but is "an independent news company"; US officials are legally prohibited from interfering in RFE/RL reporting (Radio Farda n.d.).
According to sources, Masih Alinejad is also the originator of "My Stealthy Freedom," another [social media (BBC 3 Jan. 2018)] campaign against the compulsory hijab (BBC 3 Jan. 2018; Amnesty International 2 Aug. 2017, 8). The BBC explains that this campaign encourages Iranian women to post images of themselves in public without headscarves as a form of protest (BBC 3 Jan. 2018). According to the Guardian, Iranian authorities have accused Alinejad of receiving funding for her campaigns from foreign governments, which Alinejad has denied (The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
Information on any other founding members of the White Wednesdays or My Stealthy Freedom campaigns could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
2. Participation
An August 2017 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran states that, "[u]sing the hashtag #whitewednesdays, citizens have posted more than 200 pictures and videos of themselves wearing white headscarves or pieces of white clothing as symbols of protest" (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91).
According to Freedom House, the White Wednesdays and My Stealthy Freedom campaigns converged in late December 2017 with the circulation on social media by Alinejad of the image of a woman protesting against the mandatory wearing of the hijab; the image was shared widely as part of larger anti-government protests on a range of issues, which continued into the first week of January 2018 throughout the country (Freedom House 1 Nov. 2018). RFE/RL similarly states that, starting in late December [2017], following the initial protest by a woman identified as Vida Movahed, "more than a dozen women and at least one man publicly challenged the hijab rule by climbing onto utility boxes in Tehran and other cities and waving head scarves on sticks" (RFE/RL 2 Mar. 2018). The same source notes that Movahed waved a white scarf from a stick and appears to have been the "inspiration" for subsequent protests (RFE/RL 30 Jan. 2018). According to sources, the protesters have been referred to as the "Girls [from/of] Revolution [Enghelab] Street," the location in Tehran where Movahed held her protest (RFE/RL 2 Mar. 2018; The New Yorker 7 Feb. 2018).
3. Treatment of Supporters by State Authorities
Amnesty International reports that Alinejad "has been repeatedly subject to sexual insults on state-sanctioned media outlets and threatened with rape and death by social media users believed to be affiliated with Iran's intelligence and security forces" (Amnesty International 2 Aug. 2017, 8). Similarly, the report by the UN Special Rapporteur states that, in articles published by "[s]tate-sanctioned media outlets as well as social media accounts believed to be affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards and Basij paramilitary forces," Alinejad has been described as a "'whore'" and it is claimed that she has been "sexually abused" (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91). For example, the Special Rapporteur states that "Mashregh News [described by Human Rights Watch as "close to Iran's Revolutionary Guards" (Human Rights Watch 26 Sept. 2018)] reposted an article originally issued three years ago containing a photograph of Ms. Alinejad with her parents, together with a bold caption reading, 'May God kill Masih'" (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91). However, the same source adds that two Iranian members of parliament "reportedly called on the judiciary to hold an inquiry on the defamatory remarks made against Ms. Alinejad" (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
The UN's Special Rapporteur's report states that "[w]omen who do not wear a hijab that conforms to authorities' interpretation of so-called 'modesty' in public can be sentenced to up to two months in prison or to pay a fine" (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91). According to RFE/RL, "[o]ver the past four decades, tens of thousands of women have been harassed, detained, fined, or even sentenced to jail terms for being insufficiently covered" (RFE/RL 20 Apr. 2018). Amnesty International states that women who oppose compulsory veiling (wearing a hijab) "have also been subject to severe smear campaigns on state media" (Amnesty International 2 Aug. 2017, 8). Sources report that during a sermon in June 2017, a cleric likened women who wear white shawls to "prostitutes" (UN 14 Aug. 2017, para. 91; RFE/RL 8 June 2017). According to RFE/RL, the cleric appeared to be referring to the White Wednesdays campaign (RFE/RL 8 June 2017). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
According to Freedom House, "dozens of women were arrested in the first two months of 2018 specifically for individual protests against [the] compulsory hijab that were inspired by the White Wednesdays campaign" (Freedom House 1 Nov. 2018). Sources report that, according to police, in February 2018, 29 women were arrested for taking part in protests against the compulsory wearing of the hijab (RFE/RL 20 Apr. 2018; The Guardian 2 Feb. 2018). Human Rights Watch reports that police stated that 29 individuals were arrested "to combat 'Masih Alinejad's unveiling campaign'" (Human Rights Watch 24 Feb. 2018). In February 2019, Reuters reported that, citing Amnesty International, "at least 39 women" were arrested due to the hijab protests [in 2018] (Reuters 14 Feb. 2019).
Sources report that Vida Movahed was detained until late January 2018 [approximately a month following her protest] (CBC 31 Jan. 2018; RFE/RL 30 Jan. 2018). According to sources, some of the women who were arrested following protests in January and February 2018 are identified as:
- Nargess [Narguess] Hosseini (Human Rights Watch 24 Feb. 2018; RFE/RL 30 Jan. 2018);
- Azam Jangravi (Reuters 14 Feb. 2019; Human Rights Watch 24 Feb. 2018);
- Shaparak Shajarizadeh (Human Rights Watch 24 Feb. 2018).
In an interview with Reuters, Azam Jangravi states that, after her arrest, she was "fired from her job at a research institute and sentenced to three years in prison for promoting indecency and wilfully breaking Islamic law," but left Iran with the help of a human smuggler after the court threatened to take away her daughter (Reuters 14 Feb. 2019). Reuters reports that, according to Amnesty International's Iran researcher, authorities have gone to "'extreme and absurd lengths'" against mandatory hijab protesters, such as searching people's homes to look for pin badges indicating opposition to the compulsory hijab (Reuters 14 Feb. 2019). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
Further information on the campaign and the treatment of its supporters by authorities could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Amnesty International. 2 August 2017. Caught in a Web of Repression: Iran's Human Rights Defenders Under Attack. (MDE 13/6446/2017) [Accessed 7 Feb. 2019]
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 3 January 2018. BBC Trending. "Woman Becomes Face of Iran Protests Despite Not Being There." [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019]
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). 31 January 2018. The Current. "Iranian Women Risk Arrest as They Remove Their Veils for #WhiteWednesdays." [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019]
Freedom House. 1 November 2018. "Iran." Freedom on the Net 2018. [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019]
The Guardian. 2 February 2018. Saeed Kamali Dehghan. "Tehran Hijab Protest: Iranian Police Arrest 29 Women." [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019]
Human Rights Watch. 26 September 2018. "Iran: Targeting of Dual Citizens, Foreigners." [Accessed 27 Feb. 2019]
Human Rights Watch. 24 February 2018. "Iran: Stop Prosecuting Women Over Dress Code." [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019]
The New Yorker. 7 February 2018. Robin Wright. "Hijab Protests Expose Iran's Core Divide." [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019]
Radio Farda. N.d. "About Radio Farda." [Accessed 22 Feb. 2019]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 20 April 2018. Golnaz Esfandiari. "Iranians Push Back, Say Rough Treatment at Hands of Morality Police Is the Norm." [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 2 March 2018. Golnaz Esfandiari. "Prominent Iranians Lifting the Veil on the Hijab Debate." [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 30 January 2018. Golnaz Esfandiari. "Uncovered 'Girl From Revolution Street' Picks Up Steam in Iran." [Accessed 7 Feb. 2019]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 8 June 2017. Golnaz Esfandiari. "Iranian Cleric's Comments Likening Loosely Veiled Women to Prostitutes Spark Backlash." [Accessed 22 Feb. 2019]
Reuters. 14 February 2019. Emily Wither. "I Did It for My Daughter, Says Woman Arrested for Headscarf Protest in Iran." [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019]
United Nations (UN). 14 August 2017. General Assembly. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. (A/72/322) [Accessed 7 Feb. 2019]
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including: Al Bawaba; Al Jazeera; Center on Human Rights in Iran; ecoi.net; Factiva; Fars News Agency; Iran Front Page; Iran Human Rights Documentation Center; Iranian Labour News Agency; Iranian Students' News Agency; KhabarOnline News Agency; Kayhan; The New York Times; Press TV; Reporters sans frontières; Tehran Telegram; UK – Home Office; UN – Refworld; Women in the World; Women Living Under Muslim Laws.