The new criminal and inhuman law must be opposed with the slogan, “Woman, Resistance, Freedom”
After months of being passed back and forth between the regime’s Parliament and the Guardian Council, and a year and a half after it was drafted by the regime’s judiciary, the so-called “Chastity and Hijab” law was finally published on November 30, 2024. The law consists of 74 articles across five chapters. Originally titled “Support for the Culture of Chastity and Hijab,” the draft was prepared following the 2022 uprising and submitted to the Majlis by Ebrahim Raisi.
On November 27, 2024, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of Majlis, announced in a press conference that the Majlis-approved “Chastity and Hijab” law would be implemented starting December 13, 2024. He claimed that the law does not involve “morality patrols or imprisonment.” However, the law’s actual text, divided into five chapters, assigns oppressive responsibilities to various government institutions, including the Ministry of Culture and Guidance, the state broadcaster (IRIB), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, municipalities, the Ministry of Science, and other government bodies.
For example, Chapter Three of this law flagrantly violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international conventions such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and conventions related to women’s rights. It compels numerous ministries, organizations, and municipalities to go beyond morality patrols in cracking down on improper hijab or its removal.
Clause 8 of Article 16 specifically mandates municipalities and village councils across the country, in collaboration with organizations such as the regime’s Propaganda Organization, the Ministry of Culture and Guidance, the Ministry of Sports and Youth, IRIB, and the Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, to “maintain ongoing supervision of public spaces under their management, such as parks, cultural centers, historical sites, and urban public transport. They are required to take the necessary steps to promote conditions for chastity and hijab, ensure the active presence of virtue promoters, and provide support for their actions in these spaces.”
In addition to targeting women under the guise of enforcing hijab rules, this law imposes severe penalties on government employees, business owners, and others who refuse to cooperate with the regime’s enforcement measures. Those who fail to report or act against individuals opposing mandatory hijab, or who refuse to enforce the law, face punishments including five to six years of suspension from public service, fines equivalent to two to six months’ worth of business income, or other significant financial penalties.
To suppress protests and prevent the spread of dissent among women and the broader society, the law also assigns the Ministry of Intelligence, the police intelligence unit (FARAJA), and the IRGC Intelligence Organization to enforce measures against noncompliance with hijab rules.
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), echoing Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s statement, views this “criminal and inhumane” law as a new phase in the regime’s efforts to crack down on Iranian women and girls, aimed at stifling uprisings. The NCRI Women’s Committee calls on all international organizations and relevant bodies to condemn this law.
The NCRI Women’s Committee urges all freedom-loving Iranian women to resist this oppressive and inhumane law under the banner of “Woman, Resistance, Freedom.”
National Council of Resistance of Iran-Women’s Committee
1 December 2024
