ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities are subjecting women to “draconian” punishments through surveillance and mass car confiscations to impose compulsory hijab laws, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
“Iranian authorities are waging a large-scale campaign to inforce repressive compulsory veiling laws through widespread surveillance of women and girls in public spaces and mass police checks targeting women drivers,” Amnesty said in a report, based on testimonies from over 40 women ahead of the International Women’s Day.
The Islamic republic was shaken by mass countrywide protests after 22-year-old Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini died while in custody of its so-called morality olice on September 16, 2022.
Amini had been arrested for wearing a lax hijab. Her death sparked nationwide protests that posed the biggest threat to the Iranian regime in 40 years. Protestors chanting “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (Woman Life Freedom) began by calling for greater freedoms, the movement grew into an anti-government revolution as authorities responded with violence. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested.
The protests saw women publicly condemn the strict dress code but authorities have remained clear about their intentions to not abandon the compulsory hijab, put in place in 1983, around four years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“In a sinister attempt to wear down resistance to compulsory veiling in the wake of the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ uprising, Iran’s authorities are terrorizing women and girls by subjecting them to constant surveillance and policing, disrupting their daily lives and causing them immense mental distress,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Their draconian tactics span from stopping women drivers on the road and carrying out mass confiscations of their vehicles to imposing flogging and prison sentences,” Eltahawy stressed.
According to the report, Iranian police regularly confiscate the cars of female drivers or passengers without or in “inappropriate” headscarves. The surveillance is carried out by cameras or plainclothes agents through police app Nazer to report license plates of drivers violating the hijab law.
Those caught are then contacted and ordered to report to the police to hand over their vehicles as punishment. In many cases, the cars are released after 15 to 30 days, once arbitrary payment fees are settled.
According to the testimonials, the process to retrieve the vehicles is long and involves “degrading treatment from officials including gender-based insults and reprimands about the appearance of women and girls as young as nine” with “threats of flogging, imprisonment, and travel bans.”
The women also told Amnesty that they are regularly denied access to public transport, airports, and banking services without wearing a headscarf.
In January, Iranian woman Roya Heshmati was sentenced to 74 lashes after appearing unveiled in public, Amnesty said.
In September 2023, Iran’s parliament approved the “Bill to Support the Culture of Chastity and Hijab,” which would grant security forces additional powers to further crack down on violators of the compulsory hijab.
The bill is awaiting the approval of the Guardian Council to be signed into law.
