Iran Hijab Row: 15 Years Jail, Death Penalty, Hefty Fines On Violation Of Morality Laws| War Against Women

The new rules adopted in a bid to enforce the “culture of chastity and hijab” include severe penalties applicable for individuals who violate the morality laws by “promoting nudity, indecency, unveiling, or improper dressing.”

The severe crackdown on women came two years after nationwide protests that erupted following the custodial deathof 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who had been detained for not wearing her hijab correctly.

After enjoying a little leniency in the Hijab rule during the more reformist Hassan Rouhani’s regime, women in Iran again were made to abide by stringent restrictions on clothing once the late hardliner President Ebrahim Raisi took over the post in 2021. The living conditions for women are in fact getting worse under the current regime spearheaded by President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Article 37, Article 60: Iranian law waging war against women

As per the Article 37 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, individuals accused of promoting or advocating indecency, unveiling, or “improper dressing” to foreign entities, including international media and civil society organisations, could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined as much as 12,500 pounds.

Furthermore, Article 60 of the new law suggests that anyone who would attempt to intervene or prevent the arrest or harassment of women and girls defying mandatory veiling will either be imprisoned or fined.

Besides, businesses or commercial establishments, taxi drivers, media and broadcasters, and educational institutions will also now fall within the purview of the strict punishments and penalties upon non-compliance and failing to report the violation of the laws.

Under Article 286, the death penalty and execution is reserved for those who actions are deemed to constitute “corruption on Earth”. This prohibits women and girls from sharing videos of themselves unveiled with foreign media or engaging in peaceful activism.

ALSO READ | Iran To Open Hijab Rehabilitation Clinic To 'Treat' Women Defying Dress Code

Mahsa Amini's death

On September 13, 2022, the guidance patrols or Gasht-e-Ershad, commonly known as the ’Morality Police’ of Iran, detained Amini for flouting the country’s dress code for women as she apparently was wearing an ‘improper head covering’.

ALSO READ | Parallel To Attack On Israel, Iran Wages 'War' Against Women 'Disobeying' Hijab Law: Report

Authorities claimed that Amini succumbed to death on September 16 owing to a cardiac failure three days after falling into a coma while her family, rejecting the possibility of any underlying medical condition to be the cause of her death,  firmly pointed towards custodial brutality and asserted that she was beaten.

Stemming from the angst triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death, the anti-government protest took the shape of a massive outcry against the repressive regime of the ‘supreme leader’ Ayatollah Khamenei. The unrest gave thousands of people a platform to raise their voices against several other pressing issues as well including inflation, unemployment, violation of international laws, and sanctions.

'Shameful law...': Amnesty International reacts

Expressing grave concern over the implications of these laws, Amnesty International said that the new laws effectively criminalise peaceful dissent and advocacy for women’s rights.

As per a report by The Guardian, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East, said, “This shameful law intensifies the persecution of women and girls for daring to stand up for their rights following the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising."

“The authorities are seeking to entrench the already suffocating system of repression against women and girls while making their daily lives even more intolerable,” she further added.

ALSO READ | How The Death Of Mahsa Amini Pushed Iranian Women Over The Edge Of Revolution

Hijab rehabilitation clinic to 'treat' women defying dress code

Within weeks since videos surfaced of a young Iranian student stripped on campus for refusing to wear the hijab, Iran started working towards introducing a special mental health clinic for women who resist wearing the hijab and are not following the dress code enforced by the government.

The centre will be called the Clinic for Quitting Hijab Removal is the latest attempt to quash female dissent in the country. This attempt comes after the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini.

The Hijab Rehab Centre is poised to be run by a government official named Mehri Talebi Darestani. As per a report by Telegraph UK, Talebi has said that this clinic will focus on "the scientific and psychological treatment of removing the hijab, specifically for the teenage generation, young adults, and women seeking social and Islamic identity."