The Iranian Olympic team has a number of women competing in Rio this year. But the Iranian woman who created the biggest spectacle at the Games this weekend wasn’t even an athlete.
Darya Safai is the founder of a campaign called “Let Women Enter Their Stadiums,” a women’s rights effort aimed at changing a strict Iranian law that bans women from watching men’s sports.
On Sunday morning at the men’s volleyball match between Iran and Egypt, Safai unfurled a huge banner with the phrase “Let women enter their stadiums” printed on it. She had the same message on her shirt, and had the Iranian flag painted on her cheek.
She was forcibly removed from the stadium, and Safai says, questioned by Olympic authorities. She was eventually allowed to return to her seat, but without her banner. She told the Independent that she felt Olympic authorities didn’t want her message on camera.
“The Olympic spirit, which is against discrimination, is what Iranian women need in their country. It should be the right of everyone, men and women, to attend a sports game,” she told reporters. “It is a pity that women have to travel to Brazil to watch and cheer for their national team.”
In Iran, women are prohibited from watching men’s sports, a ban Iranian authorities say is in place because women are too fragile to see and hear the angry male fans curse their teams. The ban used to be only on soccer matches, but as volleyball has gained in popularity, Iranian authorities extended the ban to cover that sport, too.
Women who break the ban face immediate discipline. Women who openly protest the ban face charges of “propaganda against the state.” One woman who was arrested while protesting a 2014 men’s volleyball match spent five months in prison.
Safai has received an outpouring of support on social media following her act of defiance.
On Facebook, one supporter told Safai, “Thanks for going to Brazil, thanks for being an Iranian voice, you are a winner and we are proud of you.”
Safai says she’s not giving up. She has tickets to another event on Monday and plans to bring her sign.