Cycling Mother And Daughter Share Video Protesting Iran Bicycle Fatwa

Iranian women
Iranian women cycle on Kish island, Iran, August 14, 2006. Ten years later, there is a fatwa against the activity. Atta Kenare/Getty

An Iranian mother and daughter have filmed themselves cycling in defiance of a fatwa that says riding a bike is a danger to women's chastity.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, issued a ruling on a point of Islamic law that prohibits women from riding a bike in a public place.

"Riding a bicycle often attracts the attention of men and exposes the society to corruption," Khamenei told state media. "It contravenes women's chastity and it must be abandoned."

The video, uploaded to Facebook, shows two women wearing hijabs and cycling on a road in what they say is Kish, an island territory belonging to Iran.

"My mum and I are from Tehran," the woman holding the camera says. "We love cycling. It is our absolute right and we are not going to give up."

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist who started the movement My Stealthy Freedom, has urged women in the country to show themselves cycling, and to use the hashtag #IranianWomenLoveCycling.

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