New York –

Tens of thousands of women in Iran have taken to the streets in anti-government protests, courageously removing their hijabs in solidarity with Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, who was arrested by the Iranian morality police for wearing a head scarf in an “improper” way and who died under suspicious circumstances while in custody in mid September.

And in a more recent incident just this month, a 16-year-old school girls was allegedly beaten to death after she refused to sing an anthem praising Iran’s supreme leader. Government security forces purportedly entered her classroom and demanded she and other girls in the class take part in the singing. They are said to have attacked the students after they refused.

Since the death of Amini, it is estimated that more than 200 people, including women, have died amid the government’s crackdown on the demonstrations.

In a recent interview with Amna Nawaz on the PBS NewsHour, Nazanin Boniadi, an Iranian-born actress and human rights activist, quoted another Iranian actress as saying, “People are no longer fearful of prison, because Iran itself has become a prison." And that the "femicide" there is part of an ample spectrum of gender-based violence that is still widespread in the world.

Gender-based violence is a global issue that affects the lives of one in three women. Such violence may take many forms, including domestic violence, sexual violence and trafficking, as well as psychological and emotional violence. Forced child marriages, honor killings and femicide are part of this spectrum of such violence. According to the United Nations, “It is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms.” Although the majority of the victims are women, other marginalized groups face similar discrimination, including gender-nonconforming individuals.

Domestic violence, the most common form of gender-based violence, is not, of course, a new phenomenon. Before the pandemic, it is estimated that 243 million women and girls (aged 15-49) worldwide had been victims of sexual or physical violence during the previous 12 months — in most cases perpetrated by an intimate partner.

That number significantly increased during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdowns were instituted. According to a U.N. survey concluded in September 2021, nearly seven in 10 women said domestic violence had increased in their community since the start of the pandemic.

Domestic violence is vastly under reported. According to U.N. estimates, less than 40% of women who are physically abused at home seek help. U.N. Women, a United Nations organization that upholds women’s human rights, has called violence against women a “shadow pandemic,” and Antonio Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general has said, “Peace is not just the absence of war. Many women under lockdown for COVID-19 face violence where they should be safest: in their own homes.”

Gender-based violence can cause an array of physical and psychological trauma. The physical consequences include bodily injury, gastrointestinal problems, sleeping and eating disorders, chronic pain, sexually transmitted infections, miscarriages and unwanted pregnancies. The psychological consequences include depression, lowered self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, alcohol and drug abuse and post-traumatic-stress-disorders that can last for a lifetime.

The global cost of violence against women had been estimated at $1.5 trillion, a figure that is bound to increase as the pandemic continues. According to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, the number of domestic violence cases rose by 25% to 33% globally in 2020 compared to 2019. According to U.N. Women, incidents of domestic violence during the pandemic increased 300% in Hubei, China, 25% in Argentina, 30% in Cyprus and 50% in Brazil.

One possible solution would be to implement laws that prioritize women’s safety and bring about harsher punishment against perpetrators of these crimes. Governments should increase public-awareness campaigns, increase funding for women’s organizations and create more opportunities to foster women’s economic independence. All officials, including medical and paramedical personnel should be better trained to offer adequate support. Violence is a choice and it is preventable: Prevention cannot be a short-term effort and a long-term commitment at the same time.

These are trying times for women worldwide, as recent events in Iran demonstrate. But they are also a chance for change and improvement. The ultimate perversion is when a government, as in Iran’s case, is the perpetrator of violence against women, an action for which that country has been condemned worldwide.

Women in Iran today are not only protesting for the right not to wear the hijab; they are protesting against a government that has curtailed their most basic rights. Elahe Massumi, an Iranian filmmaker banned from reentering her country, told me, “If I were in Iran, I would go to the streets and join those women who are dying for freedom. I am proud of these women and proud of being an Iranian.”

By targeting women and carrying out the most brutal acts of violence against them, the Iranian regime may have provoked its own undoing.

A statement in Farsi widely circulated on social media says, “FROM NOW ON — Know Iran by its women — not by its carpets, saffron and cats.”

Cesar Chelala is an international public health consultant and writer on human rights issues.