Jila Baniyaghoob (or Zhīlā Banī Yaʻqūb, Persian: ژيلا بنى يعقوب; born 21 August 1970[1]) is an Iranian journalist and women's rights activist.
[5] Baniyaghoob began her career as a journalist while working for the daily newspaper Hamshahri while attending college at Allameh Tabatabayi University.
[6] Baniyaghoob has worked for many publications since college such as Sarmayeh newspaper, and now as editor-in-chief of the website Kanoon Zanan Irani where contributors inside and outside of Iran provide news about women's issues.
[7] While working for the Sarmayeh newspaper, Baniyaghoob started a column on women's economy, which featured interviews with experts on the gender issues of economics.
[7] Baniyaghoob was arrested in June 2006, when security forces attacked a peaceful gathering of women's rights activists in front of the University of Tehran, where she was covering the event for Sarmayeh.
[8] Baniyaghoob is a founding member of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality, which aims to change the discriminatory laws against women in Iran.
[1] Beginning in June 2009, Iran saw widespread protests following a disputed election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected amid allegations of voter fraud.
On the night of 20 June, both Baniyaghoob and her husband were arrested at their home by plainclothes police officers, as part of a general crackdown on journalists.
[3][11] Amnesty International designated her a prisoner of conscience, "held solely for peacefully exercising her rights to freedom of expression", and called for her to be released and allowed to resume her profession.