A girl lets her long hair down while the music of some street artists plays in the background. She then begins to dance, first alone, then hugging a boy. A moment of lightheartedness which however also means struggle, in an Iran where the law prohibits women from showing their hair or dancing in public.
The moment was captured in a video that went viral on social media, the latest testimony to the daily battle of girls in the Islamic Republic to claim their freedom from the headscarf and oppression. It is not clear when the images, shared by Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad on her X profile, were shot.
“In Iran, singing, dancing and even showing your hair can land women in prison: simple acts considered criminal,” she writes, publishing the video. “Yet, undeterred by the threat of arrest, young Iranian women are breaking these anti-women laws and challenging the authoritarian regime, as seen in this powerful video.”