The fourth article of the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s plan for women’s freedoms and rights emphasizes the fundamental right to freely choose clothing. This article stands as a democratic response to the oppressive imposition of mandatory hijab, which has been enforced under the guise of religion.
Before the establishment of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in 1979, Khomeini (the regime’s founder) declared hijab mandatory with the stark ultimatum: “either the veil or a hit on the head.” Female members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, the core organization of the NCRI), who themselves wore hijab, courageously shielded other women against sticks and clubs. Their mission? To defend freedom of choice at any cost.
The PMOI members understood that the mullahs’ insistence on women’s clothing was not rooted in ideological duty but rather served as a tool to suppress the immense social energy of women. This energy had played a pivotal role in toppling the previous dictatorship during the anti-monarchy revolution.
Successive Laws and Bills Enforcing Mandatory Hijab on Women
Mandatory hijab was extralegally imposed by Khomeini during the first month of the Mullahs’ rule. Just one day before International Women’s Day in 1979, the announcement came: hijab was now mandatory for women in offices. Since that pivotal moment, Khomeini’s decree has been enforced through a web of laws and bills by various government bodies, employing methods that are both humiliating and inhuman.
Let’s delve into some of these legal mechanisms:
- Article 8 of the Mullahs’ Constitution: This article, under the banner of religion, legalizes interference in people’s personal affairs. It registers the duty to “command what is good and forbid what is evil” as a universal obligation. In practice, this has often translated into oppressive control over women’s lives.
- Article 638 of the State Punishment Law: This provision targets anyone who publicly pretends to commit a haram (forbidden and unlawful) act in public places. The punishment includes imprisonment ranging from ten days to two months or up to 74 lashes. The severity of this penalty underscores the regime’s determination to enforce the mandatory hijab compliance.
- The Bill to Protect Those Who “Forbid Vice and Command Virtue” (June 2014): Ostensibly aimed at maintaining moral order, this bill paradoxically empowered criminal gangs associated with the government. The aftermath witnessed acid attacks and stabbings against women, all justified under the pretext of enforcing the mandatory hijab.
- The “Plan to Protect Chastity and Hijab” (Proposed in 2016): This bill expanded the scope of enforcement. In addition to the cases covered by previous laws, it deemed not wearing a hijab a driving violation. Women faced fines, insults, and physical abuse. The term “chastity” focused on women by imposing various religious chains on them.
- The New Bill (Approved on September 20, 2023): This recent legislation mandates over 30 ministries and government agencies to implement a comprehensive set of duties related to hijab enforcement. However, its provisions grossly infringe upon citizens’ rights. It allows regime elements to withdraw fines directly from people’s bank accounts, grants access to private and public closed-circuit cameras, and permits government agents to spy, humiliate, torture, and exploit people more aggressively than ever before.
Endless Suffering Inflicted on Bodies and Souls of Women Under Guise of Hijab
As previously mentioned, 32 government institutions play roles and bear responsibilities in enforcing the mandatory hijab for women. These actions range from brutal and degrading measures to spying, denial of services, threats, expulsion, and deprivation of basic social rights, leading to severe judicial prosecutions.
The state-run newspaper Hamshahri acknowledged on July 27, 2022, that between 60 and 80 percent of urban women are targeted by the regime’s guidance patrols. However, on the same day, Ali Khamenei, the regime’s Supreme Leader, emphasized the issue of mandatory hijab and declared that women should wear the “Islamic hijab” and “chador” everywhere. This criminal emphasis ultimately led to the brutal murder of Zhina Mahsa Amini by the guidance patrol, a tragedy that was repeated a year later with the killing of Armita Geravand.
Following Mahsa Amini’s murder on September 16, 2022, the guidance patrol temporarily disappeared from the streets, fearing a resurgence of the uprising. However, the Mullah’s regime continued its irrational hostility towards the women and girls of Iran by poisoning schoolgirls with gas.
On April 15, 2023, the commander of the police force, Ahmadreza Radan, announced once again that the regime would intensify its suppression of women’s free choice regarding the hijab. This time, they employed facial recognition technology, surveillance cameras, and confiscated national IDs. Banks, hospitals, subway stations, airports, theaters, cinemas, and other public places were instructed to deny service to women who did not cover their hair.
The State Security Force sealed off hundreds of restaurants, shops, libraries, parks, start-ups, and tourist spots across the country for serving women without the hijab. Female students were barred from continuing their studies and were expelled from universities. The judiciary imposed heavy fines, imprisonment, flogging, dismissal from work, and humiliating sentences on women.
For instance, on July 11, 2023, a woman in Tehran received a two-month prison sentence and a two-year travel ban for not wearing the mandatory hijab. She was also required to see a psychologist weekly for six months to treat her “antisocial personality disorder.” Another woman faced the absurd punishment of washing the dead in a Tehran funeral home for a month and paying a fine of 31 million rials (as reported by the state-run newspaper Ham Mihan on July 13, 2022).
On July 12, 2023, a young resident lost her job due to not wearing a mandatory hijab and was sentenced to perform cleaning services for one month. Similarly, on May 29, 2022, a court in Tehran sentenced a woman to 270 hours of free cleaning services in the Ministry of Interior building for not observing the hijab.
Even before the latest hijab bill is approved, police officers, guidance patrols, hijab enforcers, and white vans returned to the streets on April 13, 2024, implementing the “Noor Plan” and the “Fight against not observing hijab.” The scenes of violent arrests of women continue to circulate on social media daily.
The list of crimes committed by the mullahs’ regime persists until the day this oppressive regime is overthrown.
