“Governments can be dictatorial and autocratic,” said Nasrin Sotoudeh, who faces over 13 years in prison for her activism. “Despite this, we see them fail over and over again, and something better emerges because of humanity’s collective will.”
Iranian human rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh and Ms. magazine have a unique relationship. Ms. has given Nasrin incredible support as she’s faced harassment, violence and imprisonment from a government that will do virtually anything to crush women’s rights and freedom of expression. Nasrin has come to love and trust Ms., and she expressed her “deep and sincere solidarity with the staff and readers” in a moving article after the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
For most of 2023, Nasrin was home from prison on medical leave due to a heart condition that was exacerbated by COVID, which she caught while incarcerated from 2018 to 2021. Her husband, Reza Khandan, has also been free on bail after serving time in prison for supporting her work. They were threatened with reimprisonment several times, and their family bank account remained frozen as punishment for their activism. Undaunted, Nasrin continued to raise her voice on behalf of women’s rights, in opposition to Iran’s notorious use of the death penalty, and to bring support for Iran’s religious and ethnic minorities.
In addition, Nasrin and Reza participated in the “I OPPOSE THE MANDATORY HIJAB” button campaign—sponsored by Ms., The Feminist Majority Foundation, Amnesty International, RFK Human Rights and PEN America (among others)—to express solidarity with the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, and to support a woman’s right to choose what she wears, thinks and does in every country (including the United States).
Nasrin received numerous international accolades throughout the year. She was named a Global Human Rights Defender by the U.S. State Department, was honored with Germany’s Alice Schwarzer Foundation’s Heroine Award, the Train Foundation’s Civil Courage Prize and Penn State’s Brown Democracy Medal. She used all of these forums to bring attention to at-risk individuals and the causes she supports.
On Oct. 29, Nasrin was brutally assaulted, arrested and put in prison for attending the funeral of 16-year-old Armita Garawand, who was beaten to death for not wearing a mandatory hijab. Despite her injuries, Nasrin began a hunger and medication strike and was released on bail two weeks later.
She continues to face six and a half more years from her previous sentence, and the charges from her latest arrest could bring an additional seven years in prison.
Sources at
