Photo: Twitter
These are the men who will help women's voices be heard.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Sep 23, 2022
Following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police for allegedly breaking the hijab law, protests have broken out all across Iran.
Women and men are currently fighting for the rights of women in the country and against the unjust Islamic laws that have been in effect since the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s.
However, not all Iranians have joined the protests, and one man found out quickly that targeting those brave protestors is not going to win you any favors.
In a now-viral video, Iranian men defended a woman who was slapped in public.
British comedian and actor born to Iranian parents, Omid Djalili, posted a video of the moment when several men rush to aid a woman who was slapped by a stranger in public.
“The internet is now being cut in Iran because they don’t want people to see things like this: a man slaps a woman and thinks he can calmly walk away,” he writes.
“Where such actions were commonplace before, there are now dire consequences - significantly handed out by other men.”
In the video, a man in a striped red shirt can be seen hurriedly walking toward a group of women wearing hijabs.
Once he’s within reach, he makes a motion with his hand toward one of the women — which many assume was a slap — and rushes back to his motorcycle to try and get away from the scene.
Immediately, he’s approached by a man in a black shirt, and moments after, a man in a green tee runs at him and forcefully dismounts him from his bike.
The women from the group before begin clapping and join the men, yelling at the man in the striped shirt who initiated the altercation.
A third man approached from behind and began the violence, striking the man in the head and prompting the rest of the men and women who were apprehending him to lodge their assault.
Since men are the ones who hold all of the power in Iran, it's important that they are also standing up for women's rights.
Where this would normally be viewed negatively, in the context of women who have been oppressed for decades finally taking a stand and fighting back, the incident is applauded.
“I like the way common man of Iran supporting women against Hizab,” tweets one user from India, showing their support for the protests.
“Freedom to Iran,” tweeted another user.
“So glad to see those men step up,” another writes. “I sincerely hope this brave movement is able to bring about sustained change, but i fear for them all so much.”
Some suggest that the man who attacked the woman in a hijab was a part of the "Morality Police."
As many pointed out, including Djalili himself, the man in the striped shirt is actually part of a group called the “Morality Police” — enforcers of Islamic law, including the hijab laws.
Some claim that instead of a slap, the man actually sprayed the woman in the face and the reason she recoiled is because of the effects of the spray.
At a later point in the video, the man can actually be seen grabbing and using the said spray in the bag as he falls defenseless to the ground after being tripped by a bystander.
The video ends after it seemed like everyone was satisfied with the results of their attack on the man, hoping he learned his lesson, but the protests across the country continue as women and men risk their lives to fight for the rights of women.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.