Zahra is a 29 years old iranian woman living as a refugee in Montreal. Being from Tehran, she was born with a severe congenital limb deficiency which defined the world around her. For most of her life, she struggled from all sides as she’s always been denigrated by society. Others would give her dirty looks, leave a public pool if she entered it; Unable to study normally, or even date, her life was difficult. Dating for her in particular wasn’t a humane option; With the marriage custom called Sireh (or Mut’ah) she used to be sold off by the Mullahs to men for temporary consumption. But the regime’s pressure was the hardest on her. During the scorching heat of summer, she recalls, she decided to go around town with a loose hijab, as not to overheat, but when an agent of the regime took notice of her hair he proceeded to threaten her if she didn’t fix it immediately, even if her disability made it especially difficult. She tried resisting but to no avail, so she fixed her hijab the best way she could.
She says: “You know, I can not live as a person, because I’m a girl (...) To be a girl in my country is hard, but just imagine for me.”
Her decision to leave alone, backpacking with a prosthetic leg across Turkey, the US, and arriving in Canada, is a feat in itself, but it came as no surprise; After losing her father and brother a couple years ago, her mother and sister were the only people able to support her, however, the strain from the regime’s oppression and the need to take care of her kept getting increasingly heavier on them, so Zahra decided to take it upon herself to seek refuge elsewhere. She has been in Canada for 5 months now, but she hasn’t heard from her family for months, since the regime has been tightening the grip on all communications. She herself hopes her sister didn’t go to the protests since she has a baby, Zahra feels sad as she is unable to walk among the tens of thousands of iranian people. She passionate about it because this protest is different according to her; Living under oppression from the regime, women are tired of all the things happening to their country. Despite the violent and deadly crackdowns on the protesters, she says they’ve reached a point where they’re no longer afraid of being killed for their freedom. According to her, it was never about religion, these protests are the cause of the sheer injustice Iranian people face under a regime that denies their most basic rights. Living as a woman and a person with a disability crystallized all of her country’s shortcomings.
Now, she is alone, and yet she doesn’t regret her decision. Coming to Canada was essentially a way for her to “gain a 2nd chance'' as she puts it. She wants to be somebody and live humanly, having dreams of being a public speaker to advocate for others’ rights, or indulge in a normal life. But the road ahead is a difficult one as she explains. Receiving a measly $71 per month she struggles, and has been working hard in order to gather support from others, making friends along the way and new memories. Before she left, her mother told her “for 29 years I’ve fought for you to become somebody” Zahra explains it’s because of these words and the will of her people to fight for freedom that she’s able to fight for her dreams.