Dear Changemaker,
Thank you for taking the time to read this very personal letter.
At Dashl we employ women from all backgrounds and origins. We all carry different stories and most of us have parents who, for various reasons, had to leave their countries to find a safer life in Sweden. This letter is written by me, Nina Akbari, Co-Founder of Dashl and Melika Zavareh, Head of Production at Dashl, both of Iranian origin. Our parents made the life-changing decision to move to Sweden to give us the opportunity, as women, to live in a free, equal and democratic country. You are probably aware of the women-led revolution taking place in Iran under the powerful slogan “Woman Life Freedom”. The revolution began 5 months ago when 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini was arrested by the so-called “morality police” in Iran and died from the violence she was subjected to in detention. Since then, millions of Iranians have taken to the streets against decades of oppression. The Iranian regime has responded with brutal reprisals and violence towards the peaceful demonstrators, even imposing the death penalty.
We want to help in any way we can. In Iranian culture, beauty and makeup is important as it is one of few ways for women to express their identity. As an escalation of the violence against women in Iran, the regime has started to shoot at women’s eyes to disfigure them and make them blind. They believe that by “destroying women’s beauty” their value will be taken away from them. Many of the brave heroines who have fallen victim to this brutality have instead chosen to use their injury as a symbol of the struggle they are waging. The loss of their eye will be the catalyst that opens the eyes of the whole world and they will soon see a day where the Iranian people can live in freedom.
When we started talking about our upcoming product release some time ago, the eyeliner, the discussion quickly turned to how our business could support the fight that the women in Iran, with their lives on the line, are leading. We decided to create a digital manifestation to help spread the word about the ongoing horrors happening to women and continue to be their voices. We also want to raise money to organizations that work tirelessly with human rights.
The entire proceeds from the sale of the eyeliner until end of March will go in full to Center for Human Rights in Iran. An organization that actively advocate for women’s rights in Iran.
Social media is an important tool for this revolution. That is why we need your help to open the eyes of the world and remind the women of Iran that we stand with them in the fight for freedom and equality. Under #WomanLifeFreedom and #EyeSeeChange we encourage you to participate in our manifestation by making your interpretation on an eye makeup of your choice (on ONE eye to reinforce the message) inspired by our eyeliner and Woman Life Freedom. Feel free to tag @Dashl so we can spread all the great content being produced.
Thank you for taking the time and we look forward to doing this together with you.
Woman, Life, Freedom / Zan, Zendegi, Azadi / Jin, Jiyan, Azadi.