Los Angeles Times - 04.10.2019

LATIMES.COM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019A

THE WORLD

TEHRAN — Sahar Kho-
dayari understood the law:
Women in Iran are forbidden
to enter sports stadiums.
But the 29-year-old wanted
to watch a soccer match — a
benign activity hundreds of
thousands of women around
the world enjoy.
So, in March when her fa-
vorite team was playing,
Khodayari did what other
Iranian women have done in
order to watch live sports
events: She disguised her-
self as a man. Donning a blue
wig and long overcoat, Kho-
dayari made her way toward
Tehran’s Azadi Stadium,
but she never made it inside.
A security guard caught her
and arrested her. When she
found out in early Septem-
ber that she faced six
months in prison, Khoda-
yari set herself on fire out-
side the courthouse where
she had been summoned.
She died in a hospital less
than two weeks later.
Khodayari’s death has
made her the face of a social
media campaign pressuring
authorities to officially end
their long-running ban on fe-
males entering stadiums. To
many, the young woman has
also become a symbol of the
Islamic Republic’s restric-
tive laws governing women.
Using a hashtag that means
“until she comes I won’t go,”
Iranians have flooded social
networking sites with mes-
sages of outrage, heartache
and despair.
“Where men determine
women’s fate and deprive
them of their basic human
rights, there are women who
help men in their tyranny, all
of us are responsible for de-
taining and burning girls like
this in the country,” reform-
ist lawmaker Parvaneh
Salahshouri wrote on Twit-
ter.
Women’s rights activists
in Iran said international
condemnation after Khoda-
yari’s death casts a spotlight
on the country’s burgeoning
women’s rights movement
spearheaded by young Irani-
ans who are leveraging the
power of social media to ad-
vance their cause. That
movement, activists say, is
being fueled by generations
of Iranian women who, over
the last eight decades, faced
repressive laws imposed on
them by both the Pahlavi
dynasty and Islamic Repub-
lic.
“The pressure to change
the law and address the pa-
triarchy is from the grass
roots. Women will find their
way to emancipate them-
selves,” said Shahla Lahiji, a
writer and director of
Roshangaran, a publication
company that focuses on
women’s issues.
Khodayari’s troubles be-
gan after she was arrested
for trying to watch her favor-

ite soccer team, Esteghlal,

play against a team from the

United Arab Emirates. She

was released on bail and

charged with “harming pub-

lic decency” and “insulting

law enforcement agents” for

not wearing a hijab, judicial

authorities said, according

to Iranian state media outlet

Rokna News.

Although there’s no law

that bars women from

watching sporting events in

stadiums, it’s been the de

facto policy pushed by Iran’s

hard-line and religious

forces since the revolution in

1979. The reasons for the ban
      vary — with some politicians
      claiming such a space is not
      “suitable” because of the
      lack of facilities for women,
      such as bathrooms and seg-
      regated women-only seat-
      ing.
      Khodayari was told she
      faced six months in prison
      after she was summoned to
      court Sept. 2. Overcome
      with emotion, she doused
      herself in gasoline and set
      herself on fire, her sister told
      Rokna News. Khodayari
      died several days later at
      Tehran’s Motahari Hospital.
      Her death struck a chord
      in Iran, and it didn’t take
      long before she was turned
      into an icon and nicknamed
      Blue Girl — a reference to
      the uniform color of her fa-
      vorite soccer team.
      From lawmakers and ac-
      tivists to concerned citizens,
      Iranians from all walks of life
      took to social media to ex-
      press their outrage.
      Iranian women behind
      the Open Stadiums move-
      ment — an online campaign
      that has advocated for the

lifting of the ban on women

entering stadiums since

2005 — were quick to re-

spond, using their Twitter

account, with its more than

3,000 followers, as a platform

to spread information and

engage in discussions about

how the Islamic Republic re-

stricts women’s lives.

“This is an issue that

symbolizes how difficult it is

to be a woman in Iran and

how we lack freedom of

movement,” Open Stadi-

ums’ founder said. She

asked to remain anonymous

because of safety concerns.

It wasn’t long before Kho-

dayari’s death drew interna-

tional headlines, including

comments from profes-

sional soccer players and

FIFA officials, generating

broader conversations

about how women in Iran

are treated and making the

issue difficult for authorities

to ignore.

“Our position is clear and

firm. Women have to be al-

lowed into football stadiums

in Iran. Now is the moment

to change things and FIFA is

expecting positive devel-

opments starting in the next

Iran home match in Octo-

ber,” FIFA President Gianni

Infantino said in September.

In the wake of his state-

ment, women were granted

some seats to watch an Oct.

10 soccer match against

Cambodia, according to so-

cial media posts of women

showing their tickets.

More than 60% of Iran’s

80 million people are young-

er than 30, according to CIA

World Factbook statistics.

And although Facebook and

Twitter are technically

banned in Iran, most young

people know how to bypass

censorship by using virtual

private networks. There’s

also the potential for a large

audience; 60% of Iranians

use the internet, according

to the Washington-based

Freedom House’s 2018 study

on internet freedoms in Iran.

In January 2018, another

Iranian woman became the

subject of a social media

campaign named

#Where_Is_She after im-

ages of her removing her

white head scarf and tying it

on the end of a stick in

Tehran’s crowded Enghelab

Square went viral, prompt-

ing concerns over her safety

and whereabouts.

Her act motivated other

women to also remove their

head scarves in public. Dur-

ing that time Iran was rat-

tled by the biggest anti-gov-

ernment protests in nearly a

decade.

Thousands of Iranians,

including women alongside

men, demonstrated in cities

across Iran to protest high

unemployment rates, a

crumbling economy and the

failure of President Hassan

Rouhani’s administration to

carry out his promise of re-

laxing social and political re-

strictions.

Dozens of women who re-

moved their head scarves

were arrested.

Women’s activists said

that the fast dissemination

of news on social media

about Khodayari and the

woman who removed her

white head scarf highlights

how young Iranians are in-

creasingly using the internet

as an outlet to express their

frustrations and that it has

proved to be a helpful alter-

native to protests when it

comes to pressing for

change.

“Social media have been

heaven for the younger gen-

eration. Over the last five

years I’ve been seeing a new

generation of women fight

for their rights by using so-

cial media,” said the founder

of the Open Stadiums cam-

paign.

Even as women’s rights

diminished greatly in the

years after the 1979 revolu-

tion, women’s activists say

significant gains in literacy

and education over the last

30 years have helped raise

women’s expectations about

their role in society. History

has also played a role in

framing the women’s move-

ment; since the early 20th

century, Iran’s leaders have

politicized and sought con-

trol over women in order to

consolidate power, albeit in

different ways.

In 1936, the pro-Western

monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi

created a law that banned

head scarves — an act that

many pious women saw as

repressive — and outlawed

segregation of the sexes in

public places in an attempt

to to mirror popular ideas of

modernity.

When his son, Moham-

med Reza Shah Pahlavi, re-

turned to power after the

U.S.- and British-backed

coup of 1953 ousted demo-

cratically elected Prime

Minister Mohammed Mos-

sadegh, he followed in his fa-

ther’s footsteps by pursuing

a series of reforms known as

the White Revolution in a bid

to retain control and legiti-

macy.

Restrictions on women

intensified after the Islamic

Revolution in 1979. But this

time, the slightest reminder

of the West was shunned.

Under Ayatollah Ruhollah

Khomeini’s rule, women

were forced to cover their

hair and they also lost the

right to file for divorce and

were required to wear loose-

fitting clothes. Alcohol was

banned as well as music and

dancing in public places.

For some women’s activ-

ists in Iran, such drastic

changes in laws have helped

shape their goals. Mahjoub

Marzie Rasooli, a 40-year-

old women’s rights activist,

said the difference in laws

concerning head scarves be-

tween her generation and

her mother’s has shown her

the importance of fighting

for the right of women to

choose whether they want to

cover their hair in public.

“We must be free to

choose whether we want to

follow Islamic code of dress

or not,” Rasooli said.

In the days after Khoda-

yari’s death, people gath-

ered for a candlelight vigil

outside the courthouse

where she had set herself on

fire. Her favorite team also

held a moment of silence be-

fore its practice session.

“Step by step, trench by

trench, women activists are

advancing toward their

goals,” Rasooli said.

Special correspondent

Mostaghim reported from

Tehran and Times staff

writer Etehad from Los

Angeles.

Iran soccer fan’s death a rallying cry

Demise of ‘Blue Girl’

prompts a campaign

to end a ban on

women in stadiums.

By Ramin Mostaghim
and Melissa Etehad

IRANIAN women cheer in October 2018 during a soccer match between Iran and Bolivia after authorities, in a rare move, allowed a select

group of women into Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. A soccer fan who disguised herself to attend a match this year was caught and killed herself.

Vahid SalemiAssociated Press

HONG KONG — The 18-
year-old who was the first
victim of police gunfire in
Hong Kong’s months of pro-
democracy protests was
charged Thursday with riot-
ing and attacking police.
The shooting occurred
during widespread violence
Tuesday across the semiau-
tonomous Chinese territory
that marred China’s Na-
tional Day celebrations. It
has deepened anger against
police, who have been ac-
cused of being heavy-han-
ded against protesters.
The officer fired at close
range as Tsang Chi-kin
struck him with a rod. The
government said Tsang’s
condition was stable after
surgery.
The case against Tsang
was heard by a court Thurs-
day afternoon. He was
among seven people
charged with rioting, which
carries a penalty of up to 10
years in prison.
Tsang also faces two ad-

ditional counts of attacking

two police officers, punish-

able by up to six months in

prison.

He did not appear in

court. Dozens of supporters,

many in black, sat outside

the courthouse.

Thousands of people ral-

lied Wednesday to demand

police accountability for the

shooting, with many saying

the use of lethal weaponry

was unjustified.

Pockets of black-clad

youths vented their anger

late Wednesday night, lob-

bing gasoline bombs at po-

lice quarters, vandalizing

subway stations and block-

ing traffic in several dis-

tricts. Police responded with

tear gas in some areas.

More than 1,000 students

marched Thursday at the

Chinese University of Hong

Kong in a continuing show of

support for Tsang and

vowed to keep up their fight

for more democratic free-

doms. Many students be-

lieved that firing at Tsang’s

chest, close to his heart, was

an attempt to kill him.

Police defended the

shooting at close range as

“reasonable and lawful” be-

cause the officer had feared

for his life and those of his

colleagues.

Videos on social media of

the shooting showed a group

of black-clad protesters with

bars and umbrellas clashing

with police. They closed in

on a lone officer, who opened

fire as Tsang came at him

with a rod. Just as another

protester rushed in to try to

drag Tsang away but was

tackled by an officer, a gaso-

line bomb landed in the mid-

dle of the group of officers in

an explosion of flames.

The shooting marked an

escalation in violence in the

protests that have besieged

one of the world’s top finan-

cial hubs since June over a

now-withdrawn extradition

bill. The movement has

snowballed into an anti-

China campaign amid anger

over what many view as Bei-

jing’s interference in the au-

tonomy that was granted

Hong Kong when the former

British colony returned to

Chinese rule in 1997. More

than 1,750 people have been

detained so far.

The increasingly wide-

spread violence has

prompted rising calls from

police associations and

some pro-Beijing groups for

tougher measures, includ-

ing curfews and a mask ban

to prevent protesters from

concealing their identities.

The Junior Police Offi-

cers Assn., representing

front-line officers, said the

force has been stretched

thin. In a statement

Wednesday, it urged Chief

Executive Carrie Lam’s gov-

ernment to impose a curfew

and other emergency mea-

sures to quell riots and

maintain public order.

Lam has not commented

since she returned from Na-

tional Day celebrations in

Beijing. Local news reports

said that she will hold a spe-

cial meeting of her Executive

Council on Friday to discuss

the mask ban, which could

be imposed under an emer-

gency law.

Lam’s office said it has no

immediate comment.

Some legislators warned

Thursday that a mask ban

and any harsh measures

would only alienate the peo-

ple further and possibly

prompt a more ferocious

backlash.

Ip Kin-yuen, a legislator

representing the education

sector, said it would be akin

to “adding oil to the fire” and

further weaken the govern-

ment in dealing with the cri-

sis.

Pro-Beijing legislator

Michael Tien said protesters

could challenge a mask ban

and any curfew order, just as

tens of thousands of people

have defied police bans on

rallies and taken to the

streets in the last few

months.

Rioting charge for Hong Kong man shot by police

associated press

STUDENTS and other protesters in Hong Kong hold

a sit-in outside the high school attended by Tsang

Chi-kin, 18, a demonstrator shot by police this week.

Mohd Rasfan AFP/Getty Images