Women defying hijab rules face morality police threat
Wave of arrests in latest crackdown.
W iomen are being threatened, intimidated and abducted in Iran amid a countrywide crackdown on mandatory head coverings, with warnings that the situation may escalate. Open-source evidence examined by shows women being targeted by the authorities, including two in different cities being surrounded by morality police agents and dragged away for failing to wear a hijab.
At least 19 female activists have been arrested and a further 41 were sentenced in the first three months of this year, according to Norwaybased human rights group Hengaw.
Previously, months-long protests surged across the country after the death of a woman in custody in 2022. The demonstrations largely subsided after the regime’s brutal repression. More than 500 people were killed by security forces.
However, a fresh flurry of posts
from the Iranian online community highlighting the treatment of women has come at the same time that the country is in a tense international face-off with Israel.
These dual tensions may mean there is a “real risk” the domestic situation will escalate, Nick Westcott, professor of diplomacy at Soas, said.
In one video verified by i,a woman can be seen enjoying a picnic towards the end of the afternoon as people around her are relaxing, some are fishing and small children run around playing.
Suddenly she is surrounded by a group of people, some in uniform, and shouting breaks out.
A man in plain clothes with handcuffs visible on his belt moves behind the woman before directing the agents to move her towards a vehicle. She is pulled along mostly by other women who are dressed in black and wearing modest wear known as abayas. It is possible to see Iran’s morality police banner on the side of the waiting van.
It’s not possible to confirm when it was filmed but UK-based news organisation Iran International report it was sent it on Friday, the same day it appeared in numerous Telegram channels. i has geolocated the video to the popular tourist spot of Saqalaksar dam in Rasht city, northern Iran.
Another video shows a woman being bundled into a car by the country’s morality police. i was able to geolocate it to Koohestan Boulevard in Tehran, but it is not possible to confirm when the clip was filmed.
The arrests of two women last week have also prompted outcry among activists.
Aida Shakarami, 22, was arrested for not adhering to the mandatory hijab law. She is the sister of 16-year-old Nika, who died under torture days after the women’s rights uprising began.
Journalist Dina Ghalibaf was also detained after posting on social media about her sexual assault during a previous arrest at a metro station, writing that she “was violently taken to a room and subjected to electric shocks. I was handcuffed, and one of the officers sexually assaulted me”.
The wave of repression appears to be in part sparked by women staging demonstrations in the country on International Women’s Day on 8 March.
It comes as a draconian “hijab and chastity” bill is making its way into law in the country. Those who defy head-covering enforcement or mock the hijab rules could face up to 10 years in prison, flogging or fines that would be automatically taken from the individual’s bank account.