Susanne Legena | Mahsa Amini death is a reminder progress on women's human rights is slow and fragile

As news spread around the world of the Iranian woman, who was arrested by morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly, the severity of her treatment shocked and horrified me.

Mahsa was beaten in police custody so severely that she had to have her spleen removed and died from a fractured skull. She joins the ranks of the millions of women every day who are criticised, harassed and even killed over what they decide to wear.

With the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl just around the corner (October 11) what happened to Mahsa Amini is a reminder that progress on women's rights have been, at best, slow and unequal; fragile and brittle.

A girl growing up today still faces a similar set of human rights violations - from harassment to murder - that they faced a decade ago.

Men's dominance and control of women's bodies is pervasive and clothing is no exception. The recent focus may be on Iran, where a series of powerful mass protests have now broken out in support of Mahsa Amini, but we see shades of this misogyny play out often, in all parts of the world. In Toronto in 2011, police officer Michael Sanguinetti told a group of women at a university safety talk that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimised".

His comments inspired international Slut Walk protests where women took to the streets wearing whatever they wanted to, as is our right.

In France, the "veil law" introduced in 2004 banned the wearing of hijabs at school; the law was later extended to anywhere in public. Earlier this year in the Indian state of Karnataka a similar hijab ban was brought in. This is no different than what is happening in Iran, because telling a woman what she can't wear is just as oppressive as telling her what she should wear.

The villains change but the plot remains the same. Telling women they must cover up or uncover, what dress length is appropriate or at what age certain garments, or hair length, can be worn is how the patriarchy controls women's autonomy.

As the ever-wise, ever-inspiring Malala has said: "Whether a woman chooses a burqa or a bikini, she has the right to decide for herself. If someone forces me to cover my head, I will protest. If someone forces me to remove my scarf, I will protest. I am calling for justice for #MahsaAmini." I couldn't agree more.

Women and their allies are pushing back. What really needs to be called out and addressed is men's objectification or control of women and what actually needs policing is a woman's right to autonomy. On or off, does a woman's head scarf deny men their basic freedoms? Can it solve conflict or fix climate change?

We need laws the world over that outline a woman's or girl's or gender-diverse person's freedom to look and act exactly how she wants without any restrictions, shaming or threat of being arrested, hurt or murdered.

Constantly focusing on a woman's appearance, whether it is a celebrity on a red carpet or a women in a hijab reduces a woman to simply how she looks. We are so much more than that.

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We know that when girls and women are freed from being hemmed in by societal restrictions they can become incredible agents of change and they have the power to create a better future for themselves and their communities.

They lead equality protests and climate justice movements, they put their lives on the line for women's education and they are fighting to be heard in politics. This is what is happening in Iran at the moment: a whole generation of women have been pushed to the point of rebellion and we stand alongside them in solidarity. They are willing to face the prospect of death to demand the return of their liberty and an end to the constant control.

Mahsa Amini is not the only woman who has died in Iran for not wearing the hijab in the past week. Thousands of women hit the streets in more than 80 cities and towns in Iran since Mahsa's funeral last week.; powerful, brave women and girls defiantly burning their headscarves and cutting their hair short in public, chanting "Woman, Life, Freedom!" Celebrities, athletes, journalists, musicians and even the national football team have joined the movement.

Human rights groups say that more than 80 protesters, including young women and children have been in killed by the regime in response to this. In the last two weeks, we have lost Hadis Nafaji, aged 20, who was shot six times by security forces. Ghazale Chelavi, 32, who was shot in the head in the city of Amol for chanting "we are all Mahsa Amini". Mahsa Mogoi, who was just 18, died in Isfahan during the protests.

Remember their names. These are young women who will never enter politics, never lead their community, whose voices have been violently cut short because the broke an arbitrary law made by men on how women should look.