I will not be silenced.” Defiantly proclaimed by Nasrin Sotoudeh in a letter from the depths of Iran’s notorious Evin dungeons, these words define the courageous life’s work of this Sakharov Prize heroine. As Iran’s leading human-rights lawyer, Sotoudeh has defended dissidents and demonstrators, protesters and political prisoners, until she became a prisoner herself. She has worked tirelessly to challenge the regime’s mass domestic repression, to give voice to the voiceless, and in particular to protect the rights of women, who are often the first victims of human-rights abuses. For this, Sotoudeh has been imprisoned by Iranian officials four times since 2010. This June, after being convicted in absentia, she was once again sentenced on trumped-up charges, this time to five years in prison. So for this UN Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 — marking the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — we must stand with Sotoudeh and all others targeted for giving expression to the vision and values embodied in the declaration. Nasrin Sotoudeh represents both the ongoing struggle for women’s rights and the historical legacy of female activism in Iran. Although the women who took to the streets in protest of the Shah played a vital role in the success of the 1979 Revolution, the past 40 years have seen the use of state-sanctioned systematic discrimination and violence against women. Women still cannot travel without their husband’s express permission, and a husband may bar his wife from employment if he sees it as impacting his dignity. Indeed, the dignity of women is subservient to the survival of the regime in Iran, where thousands of women have been tortured, tormented and executed for seeking to exercise their fundamental rights. This has catalyzed a vibrant grassroots backlash. For the past 11 months, women have unveiled and taken to the streets of Tehran, waving their headscarves as flags of freedom in courageous defiance of the compulsory hijab law, and the broader legislating and legalizing of discrimination it represents. Known globally as the “Girls of Revolution Street,” this movement represents the long, intergenerational struggle for equality, dignity and self-determination. Shaparak Shajarizadeh, one of these “Girls of Revolution Street,” was later arrested along with her eight-year old son. Over 40 other brave female human-rights defenders were similarly arrested in this crackdown on the women’s-rights movement. While some of the women escaped and sought refuge abroad — such as Shaparak, who is now living in exile in Canada — most of the women were condemned to lengthy prison sentences. However, despite the disparate destinies of these women they shared a common cause, and a common counsel. The defence attorney who courageously represented them was none other than iconic human-rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. In the words of Shirin Ebadi, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is herself one of Sotoudeh’s former clients, “Nasrin is fearless in taking on the cases that other lawyers would carefully avoid.” It is this very same selflessness and commitment to pursuing justice and protecting the vulnerable that led to her first imprisonment in 2010. Now, eight years later — and five years after her initial release from prison in 2013 — Sotoudeh finds herself locked up on trumped-up charges once more. Canadian advocacy and leadership helped secure her release the last time. It’s time to join the 60 members of the European Parliament who have challenged the current climate of complacency and called for Sotoudeh to be freed. This UN Human Rights Day reminds us that for 70 years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has given us the words, but it is human collective activism that turns these words into lived rights. Canadians must act now to replace silence with solidarity, and solitude with solutions. We should encourage our own institutions to join in solidarity with this struggle. A case study of this is the student mobilization at Queen’s University, which has been holding rallies for Sotoudeh and other political prisoners, and has proposed that she be awarded an honorary doctorate, as was done by York University on the occasion of her last arrest. Of particular importance is the engagement of parliament and government. Canada should publicly name and shame those responsible for the repression of women and call for the release of Sotoudeh and other women imprisoned for speaking out against it. These calls should be substantiated with targeted sanctions under Magnitsky laws, banning those responsible for these human-rights violations from enjoying the benefits of our laws and liberties while denying these same rights to the Iranian people. As a Senator and women’s-rights lawyer, I have pledged to raise Sotoudeh’s just case and cause at every opportunity, and not to relent until we see her free. I encourage my colleagues in Parliament to do the same. While Nasrin Sotoudeh courageously proclaimed that she will not be silenced, we in turn must ensure that we will not be silent. The struggle for human rights — and the values of the Universal Declaration that anchor it — demand no less.