Iranian activists go topless to protest against hijab

Members of the Iranian Communist Party protest International Women’s Day on March 8 Iranian female activists protested against the hijab in Stockholm this week, by stripping naked and painting slogans on their bodies. Following in the footsteps of the Ukrainian FEMEN movement – of which infamous Egyptian nude activist Alia al-Mahdy was a part – protested with the slogans “My nudity is my protest” and “No to hijab.”
Members of the Iranian Communist Party and the Organisation Against Violence on Women in Iran said their protest was dedicated to International Women’s Day on March 8.
FEMEN activists are known for organising topless rallies in different countries to highlight issues such against sex tourism, religious institutions, sexism and gay marriage.
The activists said in a message on FEMEN website that “in the historical battle of ‘woman v. Islam’ women will win!”
Egyptian women rights campaigner Alia al-Mahdi angered Egyptians in December 2012 when she protested nude against the country’s draft constitution.
Alia took part in a protest by the International women’s movement FEMEN in Stockholm “to say NO to Sharia constitution in Egypt!” She appeared holding the Egyptian flag with writings on her body that read “Sharia is not a constitution.”
“I chose to protest this way because of the Islamic ideas that say that we women do not own our own bodies and that we are public property, because people are the ones deciding what should be done with our bodies,” Alia later explained.
“Of course, if we want to make changes, we have to do it in a way it has never been done before,” she said.