On Oct. 10, 51-year-old Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” as described by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Over the course of her 30 years of activism, she has peacefully brought grassroot change to Iran through education, advocacy, and civil disobedience, but is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison for “spreading anti-state propaganda.” Mohammadi has been fighting against the oppression of women in Iran. Her fight for civil rights in Iran has come with the hefty price of her liberty, her health, and her separation from her husband, children, and parents. Narges has suffered years of harassment, punctuated by intermittent periods of detention, and is not allowed to see her children. Her nine-year-old twins have had to leave Iran to go live with their father, Taghi Rahmani, in France.

Mohammadi has long faced persecution by the Iranian government for taking a stance on prominent issues in the nation. In the past, she had founded and led a strong movement campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty, leading to a 16-year imprisonment. In terms of women’s rights, she has voiced her opinions against the regime’s enforcement of the hijab and laws regarding the chastity of women. 

Narges is the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), headed by fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. Narges’s work has become more relevant in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s “morality police” on Sept. 16, 2022, which sparked major protests. The morality police arrested Amini for improperly wearing her hijab and, after they allegedly beat her, she fell into a coma and died. Protests began by asking for accountability and are now demanding regime change. Protests have also fought against electoral fraud, economic hardships, and government corruption.

Iranians have a democratic branch they can use to advocate for change under the regime; however, because it is part of the same power structure and is controlled by Iran’s autocratic supreme leader, change rarely occurs. Iranians are instead forced to voice their objections in the streets because the system that protects the morality police—the supreme leader, and the entire power structure of Iran—was designed to fight dissent. The unelected officials in Iran have continually stymied and sabotaged reforms passed to the government, which has left people feeling unheard and unrepresented by their government.

This is why the work of activists like Mohammadi is so important for the future of Iran. Iran has failed to create a country where the youth can see themselves having a voice in their nation, but activists like Mohammadi are fighting to change this.