Red Buckeye – Aesculus pavia

Jila Baniyaghoob (or Zhīlā Banī Yaʻqūb, Persian: ژيلا بنى يعقوب ; born 21 August 1970^[1]) is an Iranian journalist and women's rights activist. She is the editor-in-chief of the website Kanoon Zanan Irani ("Focus on Iranian Women").^[2] Baniyaghoob is married to fellow journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i, an editor at Sarmayeh, a business newspaper.^[3]

Baniyaghoob was born on 21 August 1970, in Iran.^[4] As a young child in Iran, Baniyaghoob was exposed to the political atmosphere very young.^[4] She was surrounded by chaos and political influence for most of her childhood, but it wasn't until 1979, when Jila Baniyaghoob became a journalist.^[4] She was 11 years old at the time when she wrote and published a short story about children and poverty in a major daily newspaper called Kayhan.^[5] While she was young, many of her teachers encouraged her talent in writing.^[5] These teachers were politically engaged against the conservative who had taken over the country of Iran, some of which were arrested and persecuted for their political views.^[5] This gave Baniyaghoob the insight behind the political atmosphere starting from a young age and used it as an early building block for her career in covering politics as well as the economic factors of discrimination against women.^[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.^[6][7] Her site has been repeatedly filtered by the Iranian government.^[7] Baniyaghoob is known for being a freelance Iranian reporter, author, and activist who focuses her reporting on how government and social oppression affect women.^[7] As a journalist, Baniyaghoob has faced numerous ramifications and has been arrested, beaten and imprisoned on numerous occasions for her reporting.^[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] The column was canceled in 2008 by the paper's management.^[7] Baniyaghoob traveled throughout the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria from 2001–2002.^[7] She has written about women and refugees she encountered on her trip, covering issues of social and legal discrimination.^[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.^[7] She was also arrested in March 2007 while covering those who opposed the Islamic Revolutionary Court's trial of women's rights activists.^[7] She was imprisoned in a wing of Tehran's Elvin prison where she was blindfolded and subjected to numerous interrogations by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry who operate the prison.^[7] She was later sent to prison in September 2008 after being found guilty of "disruption of public order, failure to obey police orders and propagandizing against the Islamic regime.^[6] Most recently she was arrested in June 2009 while covering the post-election protests in Iran and was later released in August.^[6] In 2010, Iran sentenced Baniyaghoob to jail for one year and banned her from writing for over 30 years over post-election unrest.^[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.^[6] She has also published a book, Journalists in Iran.^[6] Her book documents the experiences of Iranian journalists and women under duress, as well as some of her own experiences.^[6] Baniyaghoob also published a second book, Women of Evin: Ward 209, which is based on her firsthand observations of women prisoners in Evin Prison in Tehran and will be published outside of Iran.^{[9][non-primary source needed]}

In 2008, she was imprisoned a third time for covering a women's rally, on charges of "disruption of public order, failure to obey police orders and propagandizing against the Islamic regime".^[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.^[10] Amou'i was jailed that year on charges of "gathering and colluding with intent to harm national security", "spreading propaganda against the system", "disrupting public security" and "insulting the president".^[3] In 2010, Baniyaghoob was tried and convicted for "spreading propaganda against the system" and "insulting the president". The court banned her from practicing journalism for thirty years and sentenced her to a year in prison.^[3]

On 2 September 2012, she was summoned to Evin Prison to begin the sentence.^[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.^[3]

In 2009, the International Women's Media Foundation awarded Baniyaghoob its Courage In Journalism prize, stating that she had "fearlessly reported on government and social oppression, particularly as they affect women".^[12] The following year, she won the Freedom of Speech Award of Reporters Without Borders.^[2] In 2009, the International Women's Media Foundation awarded Baniyaghoob its Courage in Journalism prize, stating that she had "fearlessly reported on government and social oppression, particularly as they affect women".^[12] The following year, she won the Freedom of Speech Award of Reporters Without Borders.^[2]

Baniyaghoob is known for her fearless reporting on the oppression of women and the government.^[13] She refuses to censor her work and as a result, she has been fired from some media outlets.^[13] She continues to travel through the Middle East to report on the lives of women and refugees. Her reporting continues to make her a target of the Iranian government.^[13]

• Focus on Iranian Women website