While the Iranian regime puts more pressure on Iranian women to enforce the mandatory hijab on the streets, reports from universities show authorities have also increased their suppression of students for not having “proper hijab.”
According to the Amir Kabir University of Technology’s newsletter, the crack down on the university’s students for “proper hijab” reached its highest level in the last ten years as of April 20. The report said at least 20 students were not admitted to the university on April 20 from one of the university’s entrances for what the agents called “improper Hijab.”
According to some students, Amir Kabir University security guards allow female students who, according to them, have “improper Hijab” entry only after they don chadors, a full-body-length cloak that covers the hair and body.
Before this on April 10, the “Voice of Al-Zahra University Students” Telegram channel reported “stricter security measures” and the installation of “face recognition” cameras at the entrances and exits of the Tehran all-female university.
According to the reports in the past months, at least five students at the University of Science and Technology in Tehran were charged in the disciplinary committee with accusations related to their activities on social media. Most of the documents in the cases include screenshots of their tweets and personal pictures. Last summer, the university’s disciplinary committee sentenced at least three students to a one-semester suspension for similar charges in the preliminary committee.
“The Leading Students” Telegram channel also reported that students at Malayer University in northwestern Iran, received threatening text messages in relation to the mandatory hijab.
According to the Hijab Bill, which has yet to be approved by the regime’s Guardian Council, a “database of school students and university students” is to be provided to the police to identify students who do not observe the mandatory hijab.
On September 20, 2023, the latest “Professional Code of Conduct and Dress” for medical students and assistants was published for the academic year of 2023-2024, according to which “any short or tight clothing, open front coat, silk, lace or clothes with open collars that expose the body are prohibited.” The edict also says that women must wear a “long veil, with suitable thickness that covers the head, hair, neck and collar.”
It is also forbidden to use thin and short scarves, only shawls, or to have hair coming out from the front or back of the veil. It also emphasizes that artificial nails and make-up and nail art “that attract attention” are prohibited.
Students report feeling fear and apprehension at universities
Students at various universities report feeling “fear and apprehension” when entering the university.
According to the state-run Khabar Online website, the way students are treated at various universities varies in degrees and is done on a whim rather than in an organized, similar manner across all universities.
“I’m always worried that one of the security guards will confront me about my clothing, shawl, how to sit or anything else,” a graduate student named Masoumeh told the news website.
According to the report, students say the excessive warnings about attire have become “frustrating” and that they feel angry, helpless, anxious, inferior, and incompetent, and as if they lack security.
Khabar Online emphasized that the lack of a single policy had become “annoying” for students, adding that students were held accountable for wearing clothes that were deemed “proper” just the day before.
Amir Kabir students boycott classes
After banning at least 200 students from entering Amir Kabir University of Technology for not having “proper Hijab,” the students at this university went on strike and boycotted classes.
On Sunday and Monday, April 21 and 22, 2024, more than 200 students at Amir Kabir University went on strike and refused to attend classes in protest of the repressive actions of the security agents in the past days due to the students’ clothing.
This strike started in the faculties of computer engineering, energy engineering, industrial engineering, textile engineering and mathematics of computer science, and many classes in the faculties of medical engineering, chemical engineering, marine engineering, and mining engineering have not been formed either.
