Two Sisters, One Struggle for Women’s Rights in Iran
In 2022, as Iran’s Women, Life, Freedom movement swept the nation following the death of mahsa Amini, two sisters – Elham and Neda- found themselves at the heart of a fight for women’s rights in Iran that would change their lives forever.
Elham, a talented artist, and Neda, a beautician and LGBTQ+ activist, both darted to challenge Iran’s repression of women and marginalised communities. Their courage came at great personal cost.
Elham
In November 2022, Elham hosted a peaceful demonstration for women’s rights. That night, 12 security agents broke into her family home. They brutally attacked her close friends and family, and took Elham into police custody – without an arrest warrant.
Elham was sentenced to prison for her role in the protests and denied access to legal representation. During her time in prison, she was tortured daily and kept in squalid, inhumane conditions. She estimates that she endured over ‘140 hours of torture’ during her time in prison.
Elham was also repeatedly threatened with sexual assault and rape if she didn’t give false information incriminating other protestors.
Denied medical care, Elham’s health deteriorated rapidly. She resorted to a hunger strike to protest her treatment, which worsened her already fragile condition. After weeks of neglect, she was rushed to hospital and released on bail. By then, she had developed liver cirrhosis from the torture and lack of proper care.
Her family were terrified that Elham would not survive if she was sent back to prison. Her
sisters fiercely advocated for her freedom, with her sister Mojgan publicly speaking out about her sister’s failing health. She begged the international community to come to Elham’s aid:
‘Please free Elham. She will die. She is sick. She needs urgent medical attention.’
In 2023, despite constant surveillance and threats, Elham managed to flee Iran and reunite with her sister Neda in Türkiye. But her struggle was far from over. Severely underweight and still struggling from liver failure, she needed urgent medical care.
To make matters worse, Elham’s family were being targeted for her crimes back in Iran- though her mother and brother were able to flee to Türkiye a few months after Elham, the regime had seized their family home and frozen their bank accounts. They couldn’t afford the life-saving treatment Elham desperately required in Türkiye and they knew they may never be able to return to the place they once called home.
HRPF heard about Elham’s case last year – and awarded her with an emergency hardship grant to cover the costs of a liver transplant as well as vital funds to cover rent for her family while in hiding.
‘The grant from PoC helped Elham until her friends were able to raise enough money for her. Without the grant, I don’t know how we would have survived. Now, my sister and mother are safe in Canada’
Neda*
Neda*
There are parts of Neda’s story, including her name, that cannot yet be told because of the grave danger it puts her in.
Like Elham, Neda* had long lived under the shadow of fear in Iran. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, she faced harassment, threats and violence for her identity in a country where homosexuality is punishable by death.
‘Life for women and LGBTQ+ people in the Islamic Republic of Iran is difficult and dangerous.
I have faced threats and violence for being myself’
Though Neda avoided being forced into marriage with a man, she was not safe to be herself at
home and had difficult relationships with some family members:
‘Under the pressure [at home] I was suicidal. I never felt safe and calm at home and I always lived with stress’
In 2018, Neda’s sexual orientation was exposed, and she received death threats. Her mother urged her to flee before she was arrested.
‘For my homosexuality, an arrest warrant was issued for me. I couldn’t sit brooding and let them take me away. My mother begged me to leave Iran and never come back. Legal procedures in Iran are conducted terribly capriciously and arbitrarily.’
Neda escaped to Turkey, where she rebuilt her life in exile. But when the Women, Life, Freedom protests erupted in 2022, she became an outspoken activist, using her voice to raise awareness of the regime’s brutality. She played a vital role in helping her younger sister Elham escape Iran and find refuge.
However, Türkiye proved unsafe as well. The government revoked her refugee status, and she struggled to afford basic necessities. Terrified of being deported back to Iran, Neda reached out to HRPF for support. We awarded her a hardship relief grant to cover the cost of rent, essential supplies and vital medicine:
‘I wish to express my gratitude for the lifeline HRPF gave me during that year. It helped me so much and kept me from destitution…My grant enabled me to continue to speak out against the injustices perpetrated by the government in Iran. Most importantly, it allowed me to have a home ready for my family when they came to me’
Now, with her mother and sister resettled safely in Canada, Neda dreams of reuniting with them one day.
‘Whether I am sent back to Iran or if somehow friends can save me from Turkey; please accept my eternal gratitude. The grants that you provide are more important than I can ever really express.’
Courage and Hope in the Darkest Times
Elham and Neda’s stories reveal the devastating human cost of repression in Iran—and the unyielding strength of those who refuse to be silenced. Though separated by borders and uncertainty, both sisters continue to fight for the same vision: a free Iran, where women and the LGBTQ+ community can live without fear.
