This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who is currently imprisoned for advocating for women’s rights in the country.

“This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran with with its undisputed leader, Narges Mohammadi,” Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said on Friday, according to the Associated Press. “The impact of the prize is not for the Nobel committee to decide upon. We hope that it is an encouragement to continue the work in whichever form this movement finds to be fitting.”

Mohammadi has been jailed since 2021 after attending the memorial for Ebrahim Ketabdar, who was killed during nationwide protests in 2019 over gasoline prices. In total, Mohammadi has been imprisoned 13 times and convicted five times.

Though Mohammadi was in jail for the protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in police custody — which resulted in 500 deaths and 22,000 arrests — she penned a piece for the New York Times detailing her experience hearing the news from behind bars.

“We are fueled by a will to survive, whether we are inside prison or outside,” Mohammadi wrote. “The government’s violent and brutal repression may sometimes keep people from the streets, but our struggle will continue until the day when light takes over darkness and the sun of freedom embraces the Iranian people.”

Human rights efforts in Iran have also become an urgent issue in the entertainment industry, with filmmakers hailing from the country raising their voices about the oppression being endured. Last week, Iranian director Jafar Panahi wrote an impassioned plea demanding that his set designer, Leila Naghdipari, be released from jail after she was arrested during protests marking the one-year anniversary of Amini’s death.

“Today, Iranian independent cinema is more that ever struggling to breathe under the boots of the security forces,” Panahi wrote, adding: “I’m worried about Leila and I’m worried about Iranian cinema.”

Martin Scorsese has even joined in the fight, urging his followers on social media to sign a petition supporting the appeal of Iranian director Saeed Roustae, who was sentenced to six months in prison for screening his film “Leila’s Brothers” at the Cannes Film Festival.

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