Iranian Solidarity Group Aotearoa New Zealand

Iranian Solidarity Group Aotearoa New Zealand (ISG NZ) was formed in September 2022 following the killing of the Kurdish-Iranian woman Jina Mahsa Amini and the emergence of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, by a group of independent Iranian New Zealanders based in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our formation was a response to the shared grief, anger, responsibility, and hope felt by many Iranians living in Aotearoa New Zealand, watching from afar as people inside Iran — particularly women — risked their lives for freedom, dignity, and justice. Since its formation, ISG NZ has placed a strong, deliberate focus on ending gender apartheid in Iran. Gender apartheid is the systemic, intentional, and legally enforced discrimination against women and girls, designed to control their bodies, restrict their freedoms, and deny them equal citizenship. This system lies at the heart of the Islamic Republic’s authoritarian structure.