On March 8, 1979, just weeks after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran and the Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah, the new regime made its intentions clear: the revolution would not include equal rights for women.
That day, more than 100,000 Iranian women flooded the streets of Tehran in protest. The spark? Khomeini's announcement that all women must wear the Islamic hijab in public. It was the first significant act of resistance to the incoming theocracy—and a bold stand for women’s freedom.
The protest coincided with International Women’s Day, and while the streets were still buzzing with revolutionary fervor, the message from these women was powerful: the revolution was not supposed to bring dictatorship in a new form.
The demonstrators came from all walks of life—students, professionals, secular women, and even some religious ones—chanting “We didn’t make a revolution to go backwards!” and “Freedom is not Eastern or Western, it is universal.” They carried banners demanding equality, the right to choose their clothing, and an end to state-imposed religious law.