Shabnam Safarzadeh and Shaghayegh Safarzadeh are co-founders of Advanced eClinical Training and proud supporters of the Iranian Center for Human Rights.
The international mainstream media has already begun to lose interest in the uprising in Iran, so we must continue our fight for dignity and freedom. You have to use what helped you revolt in the first place: social media.
The fate of Iran will be decided by the fearless women, men and children who have stood up to the regime for decades, but this battle is not just for them. We cannot rely on the government or traditional media. And we must show our solidarity and support and never forget their sacrifices. for women. for life. for freedom.
Over the years, my sister and I have watched Iran come and go in the headlines, usually around political change and the nuclear deal debate. But we have seen Iran from the inside.
We are successful entrepreneurs under the age of 30. we are women And we are Iranians.
After my mother left Iran in 1998 with us (then five-year-old twins), we were raised in the United States. A young woman, she wanted us to have the advantages that we did not experience in Iran.
She had to flee to another country to give us a chance to live a better life, but she has the weapons the current generation needs to fight for freedom: the internet and social media. And at the forefront of this new revolution are the current generation, the digital native millennials and Gen Z.
These young people have grown up with the internet and social media and shaped their worldview. 96% of her 18 to her 29 year-olds in Iran use the social media form despite heavy censorship, saying, ‘Why do women in other parts of the world have freedoms that I don’t have? Do you live with it? Do you have it?”
Social media has given young women in Iran a window into a life of possibility, a life of freedom. They were given something other than disinformation spread by the government. I see
They know what women like my sister and I have accomplished and what any woman in our position could easily do, given the opportunity.
Overall, 70% of STEM graduates and 60% of university graduates are female in Iran, but only 15% of the workforce is female. Iranian women are extraordinary but oppressed.
A fire had been burning in their hearts for a long time, but in September it turned into hell, and the whole world became so bright that it could no longer be ignored. And now, through social media, everyone can see their strength, fortitude and determination.
Our sisters in Iran no longer fear the government that has veiled them figuratively and literally for decades.
Revolutions start from below, coups from above. This is not a coup. It is not a new government trying to replace another. This is the people who rightfully claim theirs to restore Iran to a peaceful, loving and free-spirited people.
And they never fail. Not so to see that the efforts of the brave women and men of Iran will be heard and felt around the world, nourishing and strengthening those who have the courage to fight against priesthood holders.
As long as they continue to oppose the regime, they will be portrayed as thugs and vandals. Some are imprisoned and killed. And our job is to keep sharing the truth through social media. We have to take part of their burden. That way they have the energy to keep going. We must be their voices when their voices are hoarse, when their legs fail. We must help them keep hope alive.
If the fire burns too violently, there is a danger of burning out or getting out of control.
Winning this battle will require peaceful, strategic and consistent protest from Iranian women, men and children. From the outside, it’s up to us to amplify their voices. Therefore, those in power cannot silence them with censorship or suppress them with violence.
It takes time. But they will see our solidarity, they will feel our love, and they will give them the strength to continue until the ropes that bind Iran burn to ash.
Just because you don’t see it on the news, it’s easy to think that someone has fixed it for you. Don’t fall into that trap.
I encourage everyone reading this to pay attention. Keep talking to your friends and community about what is happening in Iran. Participate in and organize protests. Blogs and vlogs about protesters’ stories and their fights. Step out of your comfort zone to support the efforts of the Iranian people to win this revolution.
Prove the hopes of Hadis Najafi, who was shot down by a bullet when she protested, weren’t misplaced. Prove that it will never go away.
Prove that those taken from us cannot be forgotten.
Prove to those still fighting that this fire will not burn out.
Prove that this world supports Iran, loves women, values life, and values freedom.
