Foreign ministers representing country members of the “Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse” on Thursday released a statement in support of women and girls of Iran. The announcement comes amid the widespread protests in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the Islamic Republic’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab “correctly.”
“The undersigned Foreign Ministers for country members of the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse call attention to the extreme violence faced by the courageous Iranian women and girls who are leading sustained nationwide protests over the tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amimi,” the statement begins.
The Global Partnership was launched in March, during the 66th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, to “bring together countries, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to better prioritize, understand, prevent and address the growing scourge or technology-facilitated gender-based violence.”
The statement’s co-signatories are the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S. It comes as Iranian authorities shut down internet access in order to crack down on the protests.
“We invite the international community to join us in urgently working with technology companies to do everything in their power to enable women and girls’ access to information online, particularly their full and effective use of online platforms,” the statement reads.
The statement concludes by saying that the Global Partnership stands in solidarity with Iranian women and girls, and will continue to look for ways to support women globally to freely exercise their rights online and offline.