When Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian student, died in police custody after she was arrested for not wearing her hijab “correctly,” Iranian women responded by rising up under a beautiful declaration of values.

Woman, Life, Freedom.

At the core of the issue is an uncomfortable truth Amini and far too many other women don’t have the freedom to ignore: in too many countries, wearing hijab is not a choice. Anywhere women face beatings, physical violence, assault, rape, flogging, imprisonment, or murder for simply showing their hair are not covering up as an act of their own free will. They are doing so under duress.

In response to World Hijab Day, which does not recognize the hijab as a tool of misogynistic religious oppression, Yasmine Mohammed started No Hijab Day. This event highlights the shared struggle of women in Islamic countries who face beatings and even death for not covering their heads.

Yasmine Mohammed encourages women to videotape themselves removing their veils and letting their hair fly in the wind. This year, their symbolic act of defiance was supplemented by women in multiple countries publicly standing for freedom from forced hijab. Women in New York City, Washington DC, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and Brussels took to the streets at noon their time with a simple message.

A woman’s right to religious expression belongs to her and her alone.

End the oppressive practice of compulsory hijab.

At noon on February 1st, ROAR Women NYC was joined by ex-Muslim and Iranian American feminists as we held a banner on Central Park’s scenic Bow Bridge. This small gesture was done as part of a wider international movement to show our sisters, who feel abandoned, ignored, and trapped in fabric prisons, that they are not forgotten.

This year’s No Hijab Day is dedicated to the women of Iran, whose fight for freedom has been met with a historically brutal massacre. Understanding what the people of Iran—including the women of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement—risked death to fight for is crucial to ensuring the well-being of people everywhere.

Very few Western feminists have stood with the women of Iran and Afghanistan in their oft-fatal struggle for liberation. Nevertheless, those of us who do speak out do so out of a deep respect for our cohorts living under religious oppression.

We are here to say: even though your efforts to get the message out about the reality of your situation have been suppressed or twisted, they were not in vain. You were heard. You are more than a set of instructions someone else set for you to follow.

Lionesses of Iran and Afghanistan, let’s hear you ROAR.

If you are interested in attending more rallies in support of the people of Iran, please check this list to see if anyone has organized one near you.

For more information on the practice of forced veiling and what women are doing to liberate themselves and others, consult Yasmine Mohammed’s advocacy work supporting women worldwide.