Masih Alinejad

During a Dec. 15 virtual interview with American Jewish University President Jeffery Herbst, human rights leader and Iranian activist Masih Alinejad discussed Iran’s violence against women, detailing how the history of the Iranian regime’s oppression has had a specific impact on the women of Iran.

Asked about how growing up under the Iranian regime shaped her activism, Alinejad said that as a young girl, she watched her brother enjoy activities that were off-limits to her.

“I made my brother to be an ally… To take me out, to teach me how to ride a bicycle, to teach me how to play football,” Alinejad said. “That was my path – being a rebel from an early age.”

She added, “My brother and I started to read books that were banned. We started to have our own student activities – spreading pamphlets around, creating awareness about our basic rights and introducing people to books that we were not allowed to read in our schools.”

Alinejad said that the hijab, which women are required to wear to cover their hair, is more than an article of clothing.

“[The law requiring women to wear a hijab] is used as a tool to oppress us,” she said. “Everything that we have gone through is dark. But my mother told me, that if you are really scared of the darkness, the darkness can swallow you. But instead of being scared of the darkness, if you open your eyes as wide as you can and stare into the darkness, the darkness will disappear,” Alinejad added.

For information, visit aju.edu   and  to watch the full conversation,  youtube.com/watch?v=1J9DipMPJVU.