00:00When she first started learning to ride a motorbike 15 years ago,
00:06Mariam Gelich would drive through Tehran's empty streets at night
00:10to avoid scrutiny over her clothing or lack of license.
00:13Now an instructor, Gelich has turned hundreds of women, helping them navigate not only the
00:18capital's gridlocked streets but the barriers facing female motorcyclists in the conservative
00:23Islamic Republic with a marked surge in demand for lessons in recent months.
00:28The 49-year-old woman expressed a passion for bike.
00:58It is a passion for the residents.
01:01Gelich explained how she adverse the change unfold in real time after spending more than a decade
01:07as one of only a handful of women writers.
01:10I came up with a lot of work.
01:13It makes a good decision.
01:15When we built the streets, I got a lot of pain.
01:19I got a lot of pain.
01:21I got a lot of pain from that year.
01:23But every day I got better.
01:25I got a lot of pain.
01:27I got a lot of pain.
01:29I got a lot of pain.
01:31I got a lot of pain.
01:43It's a lot more than me.
01:45I don't want to know the name of the police.
01:47I don't want to know the name of the police.
01:55Publicly, authorities have maintained that women can ride motorcycles
01:59and officials said that there is no legal prohibition.
02:13Women in Iran have more broadly pushed against social boundaries in recent years,
02:27increasingly defying the Islamic Republic's strict rules.
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