By Michael Drummond, foreign news reporter, and Eleonora Chiarella, foreign news editor

Tara is only 18 and is still in school, but she has seen first-hand the protests that have been sweeping across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini.

She witnessed security forces tear-gassing protesters and was hit with pellets fired indiscriminately into crowds of demonstrators, she tells Sky News.

There is fear of arrest and punishment by the government, but also hope for change in the repressive country.

Sky News spoke to some of the women risking their lives in the protests on the ground - and the men who are standing alongside them.

Secondary school student who sees hope and fear around her 

"As a girl fed up with this situation, I found my place in these protests", Tara, 18, tells Sky News.

"The government must change. We want a government that is in tune with today's standards.

"We do not accept a bunch of old men who are stuck in the past to decide for us."

The crackdown on the protests from security forces has been violent.

At least 348 people have been killed, including 52 children, according to non-profit organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran.

Tara says she was in a group of a few hundred people when authorities opened fire with pellet guns from 40 metres away.

"I was hit with 20 pellets, mostly on my lower body.

"A 12-year-old girl was hit in the face, as well as an old woman."

Around her, she sees hope and fear, with those who are a few years older afraid that these protests will be suppressed like past demonstrations.

"But me and my peers believe we are on the path of change," she adds.

Women facing 'wild and brutal' security forces

The death of Miss Amini sparked some of the largest protests in Iran for decades - and it has seen women front and centre of the demonstrations.

"There have been lots of protests against the Islamic Republic over the years," a 29-year-old female student from Tehran tells Sky News.

"But after the death of Mahsa Amini, women became more involved, and they are pioneers of these protests, so it gave me the guts to join the protests and fight for my freedom."

She spoke of witnessing "wild and brutal" crackdowns on protesters by the security forces, who were "shooting and attacking people with no hesitation".

She continued: "The difference between these protests from the previous ones is that they are not organised, and they happen spontaneously.

"Moreover, people have passion for continuing these movements and have hope to change the regime.

"Solidarity is another phenomenon that we can see in the society these days, and men and women have become one to fight for mutual purpose."

Students the 'beating heart' of Iran's protests

The anger of young people hitting out at traditional and repressive attitudes from the ruling clerics has helped fuel the recent protests.

Demonstrations at Tehran University and Sharif University in the capital grabbed headlines last month, and unrest has also been reported at campuses in Isfahan, Kerman, Mashhad, Tabriz, Najafabad and elsewhere.

Zahra, 21, says that during the first days after Miss Amini's death there was a "tense" feeling at her university before students started to get involved in the protests.

Security forces have been seen going into universities and on one occasion entered dormitories, she says.

Zahra told Sky News: "The student movement was suppressed, and we could not believe that it would rise from its ashes like this again and turn nearly 130 universities to scenes of protest and solidarity for more than 40 days.

"The student movement has become the beating heart of Iran's protests, this crackdown cannot cause silence.

"We have risen up and, using different tactics and solidarity, we move ahead."

Zahra called for "fundamental changes" and vowed that students will continue to protest until something happens.

"We do not want this government, but if it agrees with fundamental changes, we prefer this path to violence and bloodshed."