Forced into Exile for Refusing Headscarf

Iran – Sara Khadem, a 25-year-old promising chess player, played at an international tournament without her headscarf in solidarity with the protest movement in Iran.

She expected a warning, but instead, she is now living in exile in southern Spain with her family due to arrest papers waiting for her in Iran.

Women in Iran are required to wear headscarves in public, even abroad. Some women are choosing not to wear them in support of the protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in September.

Another woman, climber Elnaz Rekabi, was forced to recant, and her situation upon returning to Iran is unknown. The family of Sara Khadem asked the BBC not to disclose their precise location, fearing repercussions even from afar.