The movement demands the end of compulsory hijab laws and other forms of discrimination and oppression against women in Iran, which also aligns with greater freedom for political views and religious practice.

As they came together, the slogan began to echo from one city to another, in Kurdish, Persian, Azeri, and Balochi: “Woman, Life, Freedom.”[5] The movement has been met with brutal repression by the Iranian authorities, who have killed hundreds of protesters and arrested thousands more.

[14][15][16] Mahsa (Jina) Amini, who was a 22-year-old at the time was held and then killed by the Iran's morality police for allegedly wearing the mandatory Islamic headscarf too loosely.

The death of Amini, a 22-year-old Sunni woman from Iran's Kurdish community, was a reflection of the escalating and unrelenting authoritarianism of the Iranian regime at a time of deepening economic instability.

On May 28, 2024, the city of Los Angeles proclaimed September 16 of every year to be named Mahsa Day and also they have voted to have an intersection in Westwood to be called Women, Life, Freedom Square.

[20] After the Islamic Republic censored the social media of "the Covenant" and "Neighborhood youth alliance", leadership of the movement shifted to a coalition of Iranian opposition leaders, including the crown prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi.