Even as Iran’s oppressive regime works to clamp down on dissent and disband protesters, those taking to the street are less afraid than ever before.

Schoolgirls are in the streets chanting slogans, striking workers, and protests are entering their fourth week.

Also See BBC VIDEO: ‘Join Us and Rise Up’: Hackers Take Over Iran’s State-Run TV

It all started with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, taken into police custody by Iran’s infamous “morality police,” who brutally beat her to death, according to her family and advocacy groups.

It lit a bonfire under the Iranian people, led mainly by young people and women; they took to the streets in a fury.

Since then, the protests have evolved into something more significant than the sum of their parts – with those who have lost loved ones to the morality police over the years adding their voices to the outcry and a stagnant youth population fighting for the hope of a future they can see on the other side of the violent state crackdown.

A large banner hung across the overpass of the Modares highway cutting through Tehran reads, “We are not afraid anymore. We will fight.”

Iran’s regime hopes the end of protests will come soon, but the people are not cowed – and they’re growing bolder by the week. According to human rights groups, nearly 200 people have been killed in clashes with state police, but it’s a fight for their lives, and protesters aren’t ready to give up any time soon.