Perhaps their actions won’t result in the kind of political change they desire. But Iranian women’s en masse presence in the post-election protests is both powerful and significant.

By now, she’s a household name.

Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed by a sniper over the weekend, became a media sensation overnight, thanks, in part, to the circulation of the video which documented her death as it was occurring.

But for all the focus on Agha-Soltan–who was not actually participating in a protest–there are thousands more Iranian women who have taken to the streets, risking social, political, and religious condemnation, as well as their very lives.