1979: 4 years after obtaining the presidency of the court of Tehran, she is forced to resign when conservative religious come to power, women no longer having the right to exercise this position. A human rights activist, Shirin Ebadi becomes the unofficial spokesperson for Iranian women and fights for a greater role in public life.
1995: She founded the Iranian Organization for the Protection of the Rights of the Child and the Association of Human Rights Defenders in Iran in 2001.
Sentenced to imprisonment in 2001 for revealing the violence of religious extremists drawing world attention to human rights violations in Iran.