In Iran, a teenager was arrested for dancing. Iranian women are protesting by dancing on the streets
How many of them will the government arrest?
Solidarity with teenage dancer #MaedehHojabri Iranian women's are uploading their own dancing videos.
— Ashraf Sherjan (@ASJBaloch) July 8, 2018
Maedeh Hojabri, who was arrested and forced to confess on TV because she posted videos of herself dancing. pic.twitter.com/tIEhfXJtil
The Iranian government inadvertently started a protest movement on social media this week when they arrested 18-year-old Maedeh Hojabri for uploading dance videos on Instagram, which supposedly “broke moral norms”.
Now, Iranian women are posting videos (above and below) of themselves dancing on the streets of Iran or in their own homes, with hashtags like “#DancingIsNotACrime” and “#DanceToFreedom”.
اینجا بام رامسر، من با حمایت و همراهی همسرم میرقصم. با زندان و تهدید و تحقیر نمی‌توانند سبک زندگی خودشان را به آدمها تحمیل کرد. لطفا شما هم به هشتگ #برقص_تا_برقصیم بپیوندید
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 8, 2018
We Iranian are dancing to protest the arrest of #MaedehHijabri and other teenagers.
Dancing is not a crime pic.twitter.com/A1ZjjeGMqo
I dance in a public park in Tehran to support Maedeh the 19 year old girl who got arrested for dancing.
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 7, 2018
در پارک هنرمندان بدون‌حجاب اجباری رقصیدم ولی نوازنده نگران اینکه بساطش جمع بشه با عذرخواهی آهنگ رو قطع کرد.
برای حمایت از #مائده_هژبری بیا #برقص_تا_برقصیم pic.twitter.com/8JtGU4QOzI
People in Iran & across the world are posting videos of themselves dancing to stand in solidarity w/ 17 yr old Maedeh Hojabri who was arrested by Iran’s security forces for sharing videos of herself dancing at home | #DancingIsNotACrime #برقص_تا_برقصيم pic.twitter.com/HsMNr2K0fg
— Samira Ghaderi (@Samira_Ghaderi) July 9, 2018
#Iran : More & More Iranian women's are dancing in support of Maedeh Hojabri.#MaedehHojabri's crime was she uploaded her dance videos on Instagram.#FreeMaedeh #FreeIran pic.twitter.com/wuuyYuxe7j
— Ashraf Sherjan (@ASJBaloch) July 8, 2018
میرقصم تا ببیند و بدانند با گرفتن نوجوان‌ها و مائده ها نمی‌توانند شادی و امید را از ما بگیرند و ما امید به دیدن ایرانی آزاد،شاد و با آینده روشن داریم.#مائده_هژبری #برقص_تا_برقصیم #westandtogether#westandwithpahlavi
— داش مَموشی (@dashmamush2014) July 8, 2018
ریتوییت لطفا تا همه ببینند🙏 pic.twitter.com/oGsWPSETGL
#DanceTheNightAway, This is #Iran too women's are dancing to show solidarity with #MaedehHojabri#DancingIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/dZcaJ2Q4vA
— Ashraf Sherjan (@ASJBaloch) July 9, 2018
This wasn’t the first time – in 2014, Iranian police arrested six people for posting a video (below) of themselves dancing to Pharrell William’s Happy. And, according to Shabooneh, a local news website, Hojabri wasn’t the only individual arrested on such charges – there were three others.
Remember the @Pharrell ‘Happy’ Tehran dancers who were sentenced to prison and lashes?
— Darya Safai (@SafaiDarya) July 9, 2018
The Islamic regime described this as a “vulgar” clip which ‘hurts the public chastity’. Dancing, music and being happy is Haram in islam.#MaedehHojabri#DancingIsNotACrime#Freedom pic.twitter.com/4T24GPZ8i9
Iranian women aren’t alone in their protest. Amnesty International UK also joined the protest with dance videos of their own, and so did a few Iranian men. The message was unanimous – “Dancing is not a crime”.
We hit the #London pavement today, dancing in solidarity with #MaedehHojabri who has been sentenced to prison for dancing. Maedeh is one of so many brave Iranians fighting for their human rights. #DancingIsNotACrime, #برقص_تا_برقصیم. Dance with us!🕺🏽💃🏽 pic.twitter.com/DR2EyaOOt1
— Yasamin Alttahir (@YasaminAlttahir) July 9, 2018
We stand (and dance) in solidarity with Iranian instagrammer #MaedehHojabri, arrested for expressing her creativity and sharing her love of #dance with the world. #DancingIsNotACrime! Do you agree? Why not share your own video and tag us. #Iran🇮🇷 #FreeMaedeh #WomensRights pic.twitter.com/FBWdkOptvq
— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) July 9, 2018
Iranians around the world are uploading videos of themselves dancing in solidarity with 18-year-old #MaedehHozhabri who has been arrested in Iran for posting dancing videos on Instagram. #DancingIsNotaCrime pic.twitter.com/NuOUombLKr
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) July 9, 2018
⚠️ Warning: this video contains some high-level criminal acts (💃) and may not be suitable for juveniles. #DancingIsNotACrime #برقص_تا_برقصيم https://t.co/mWroIZ2Nl7 pic.twitter.com/PgukiMgfV3
— پیام (@payam_84) July 9, 2018
Even in the past, Iranian women have protested against Iran’s strict modesty laws by performing dance forms like the Melbourne shuffle, or by dancing on the Tehran metro.