(Trigger warning) Say Her Name... This is Nika Shakarami... A child who was murdered by the Iranian Islamic Republic for burning her headscarf during a protest...? For not wearing a hijab...? No, not really... Cos as we have seen in this last few weeks THIS IS NOT ABOUT HIJAB OR ISLAM. This is about power and control...

Nika was either 16 or 17 when they murdered her (raped and murdered some sources say). She was a child. I am just at a loss for words currently... WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE DOING ABOUT THIS?? Not just about Nika, but about all those being killed, beaten oppressed in Iran? I've read so many stories (many of them coming from posts on Instagram from @hijabiluscious @ozi_ozar (this post is from them) and @elicalebon - please follow them!) but this one has hit home in a way that I cannot deny as being partly selfish... Nika is about the same age as my (trans) son and looks fairly similar. How can ANY parent hold it together after being told to come and collect the dead body (the beaten, battered and raped body) of their child, only to have that precious body stolen - to apparently reduce rioting/more protests...?

As an Iranian friend of mine on here put it "When you live in such place you have 3 choices: 1- accept it and hope in time, you get used to it, it is the normal life of common folks and a big crowd of women. 2- believe in it, don’t open your eyes to any alternatives and enjoy it, which some do, because the moment your eyes open to the truth it brings nothing but suffering, I saw some examples of that happening and it is not pretty. 3- oppose it, suffer, get chastised, beaten, imprisoned and so much worse which I saw those too."

Can any of us in the West fully understand living like this? Support Iranian people. Speak loud of your support. 

#nikashakarami Say her fucking name 🇮🇷💔