Iran's new hijab law seen as 'act of revenge' against women

Long prison sentences, heavy fines and travel bans.

These are among the punishments women face who violate Iran's new hijab law.

Passed on November 30, the Hijab and Chastity Law caused a stir in the Islamic Republic, with some senior clerics also criticizing it.

The 74-article law also requires the public to report suspected offenders to the police and penalizes businesses and taxi drivers who refuse to do so.

"You can't even call this a law," Nasrin Sotoudeh, a well-known activist and human rights lawyer who works in Iran, tells Radio Free Europe.

The laws are intended to protect citizens, but the new legislation "takes away the safety of women on the streets," according to her.

Recently, more and more women in Iran have been refusing to wear the mandatory headscarf, which is a main pillar of the Islamic system.

The hijab was at the center of unprecedented protests that erupted across Iran in 2022.

They were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amin, a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab requirement.

During the protests, many women and girls removed and burned their headscarves.

Authorities brutally suppressed the protesters, killing hundreds and arresting thousands.

Sotoudeh says many Iranians want those responsible for the deaths "to be punished."

But instead, "lawmakers passed a vindictive law against women and men," according to her.

She warns that critics "will take action" if the law is not repealed, suggesting there could even be protests.

Sotoudeh was in prison for years for her activism and addressing sensitive legal issues, including cases of women detained for peaceful protests against mandatory hijab.

Recently, authorities have increased measures to oversee the implementation of the hijab obligation.

They restored patrols by the so-called morality police, which were suspended in the wake of the 2022 protests.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also created a new unit in Tehran to oversee the wearing of the hijab. Its members are called "Ambassadors of Goodwill."

In November, the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice announced the establishment of a "clinic" offering "scientific and psychological treatment" for women who refuse to follow the Islamic dress code.

Iranian psychologists responded, warning that healthy people could be labeled as sick.

In a joint statement issued on December 1, Sotoudeh and Sedigheh Wasmaghi, a human rights activist and Islamic scholar, criticized the new hijab law, calling it "shameful" and "medieval."

The new legislation became so controversial that President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a live television appearance on December 2 that "it cannot be implemented easily."

He also questioned the new penalties for violators of the hijab obligation.

Even some senior clerics spoke out against the new law.

"Not only are large parts of this law unenforceable... but it defeats its purpose and will make young people hate religious teachings," Ayatollah Mostafa Mohaqeq Damad wrote in an open letter to senior clerics on December 2.

In a joint statement on December 4, three prominent associations representing the entertainment industry said that any law that "turns the homeland into a huge prison is meaningless" and urged authorities to repeal it./ REL