Iran Passes Bill to Enforce Strict Dress Code for Women Amidst Protests and Crackdown
The Iranian government is strict about women hijab in Iran. Legislators of the country have passed a bill in the parliament with the provision that women who violate the Islamic hijab dress code can be imprisoned for a maximum of 10 years.
On Wednesday (September 20), the country’s state media reported that a related bill was passed on an experimental basis for three years.According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, the bill called ‘support for the culture of hijab and purity’ is now awaiting approval from the country’s ‘Guardian Council’. Once approved, it will become law.
The country’s policy police arrested Masa Amini on September 13 last year on charges of violating Iran’s mandatory Islamic hijab dress code. He died in police custody on September 16. Massa’s death sparked months of protests across the country. The country’s security forces carried out a massive crackdown to stop the protests. The international community condemned this. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands of people were arrested in the protest.
Since these protests, there has been a growing apathy among women in the country to follow the strict dress code.
The draft law says women are failing to wear headscarves or appropriate clothing “at the instigation of foreign governments or governments of countries with hostile relations, the media or various groups or organizations. These women can be imprisoned for 5 to 10 years.
Covering the head, neck and neck of women has been compulsory in Iran since the early years of the republic after the Islamic Revolution.
In recent months, authorities and police have stepped up surveillance against women who flout the dress code. Even businesses where women show indifference to this rule have been shut down. Apart from this, surveillance cameras have been increased to see if anyone violates this rule in public.
Source: BBC