This poster was designed and produced by US-based Iranian graphic designer Ghazal Foroutan. She made the poster in response to and in support of the protest movement which erupted in Iran following the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in September 2022. For the artist, the work ‘represents the resistance of Iranian women against the morality police after Mahsa Amini's death’.

Mahsa died in hospital on 16 September having been arrested, and reportedly beaten, by Iran’s so-called ‘morality police’ for flouting the country’s misogynistic dress laws. Protests spread across Iran, with the movement adopting the Kurdish protest slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” (“zan, zendegi, azadi” in Persian). In tandem with the protests on the ground, photographs and videos flooded the internet, with the hashtag of Mahsa’s name in Persian trending on Twitter.

This poster, which was released in four different colourways, has been used in rallies and protests in Europe and the US in support of the protests taking place in Iran. Foroutan’s aim was to reach an audience outside of Iran, largely via Instagram. As such, she has adapted the iconic 1943 J. Howard Miller poster of Rosie the Riveter, the allegorical US icon, representing women who working in factories during World War II.