I left Iran with a heavy heart years ago, when I was almost 19, alone, without knowing any other language besides Farsi, without my family’s support, and without much money in my pocket. You could say, ‘Wow, brave girl? What was going on in your head? Why would anyone leave their family, their country, to come out and do what?’

The answer is that I didn’t have any answers. All I knew was – I don’t want to live in this place – where I can’t breathe, where I have to think twice before stepping out, think twice about who I’m hanging out with, what I can study, what I should wear to not get arrested by the morality police. I’ve lost count of how many times I was stopped by them, I got arrested and spent all my money to pay them to let me go. 

Once, I spent two nights in a police cell, watching my friends being punished by lashes. Some incidents I’ve forgotten since I moved out. But then, I am still Iranian, I still have friends and family back home.

I hear their stories all the time – stories about them not getting jobs, not having the freedom to travel, getting stopped again by the morality police, getting arrested with their boyfriend, wanting to get a divorce but unable to. Every time, you say, ‘Don’t worry, it gets better, be strong…’

But then, nine days ago, the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini – a Kurdish girl visiting Tehran – got arrested because she wasn’t wearing her scarf properly! She was taken to the station to be educated, to be corrected (and believe me, that only means ‘you’ll get beaten up, or that you have to pay to get out, or that if you keep quiet and listen to them you might get out alive), but she wasn’t lucky. She died, and I and 10,000 other Iranian girls relived our trauma!

I have my two brothers and mother back in Iran. Mum lives alone in Tehran and is terrified of what’s happening, but she keeps saying, ‘Thank god, you are not here. In this country, there is no place for women.’ Believe me, it breaks my heart hearing those words. Why is there no place for girls or girls like me in my own country? Why can’t I be with my family? Why do I have to be in a foreign country just because I wanted to live and be free? I couldn’t speak with my family until two days ago. Their phones are working, but the connection is horrible, they don’t have internet or any connection to the outside world. So, when

I tell them how much I am supporting the people, and how much everyone around the world supports Iranian women, it puts a smile on her face for a few seconds. And how I wish I could see her face!

I think this is a fight for human rights and women’s equality. We are asking for our right to wear what we want and not get abused or killed. This is not about the hijab or Islam.

This is about our rights as women. Whether we want to wear a scarf or not should be our choice, not anyone else’s. We need the world to be our voice. For example, everyone who lives in the United Kingdom, write to your cabinet and ask them why the Iran government is allowed to have an embassy and consulate when the British government doesn’t have one in Iran. If you are in any other part of the world, like the US, question your government and write emails to their offices. Email the UN, and if you can’t do that, be present online, support the hashtags, spread the news and create awareness about Iranian women.