Amnesty International: Mandatory Hijab Law Intensifies Oppression of Women

On Tuesday, December 20, Amnesty International issued a statement criticizing the so-called 'Chastity and Hijab' law in Iran, stating that the enactment of this 'strict' law further erases the rights of women and girls. The statement continues that with the approval of this law, resistance against mandatory hijab will be met with severe punishments such as execution, flogging, and imprisonment. Amnesty International, referring to the remarks of the Speaker of the Islamic Republic's Parliament about the implementation of the 'Chastity and Hijab' law starting from December 23, states that this 'dangerous' law allows for the death penalty to be applied for peaceful activities against the discriminatory mandatory hijab laws in Iran. The statement further mentions that this law, which includes 74 articles, imposes punishments of flogging, heavy financial fines, severe prison sentences, travel bans, and restrictions on education and employment for women and girls who oppose the mandatory hijab laws. According to Amnesty International, this law not only punishes private entities that do not comply with the mandatory hijab laws but also grants immunity to officials and individuals who violently attack women and girls for not adhering to it. The organization states that this 'shameful' law exacerbates the harassment of women and girls who sought to defend their rights following the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests. Dina al-Taeehawi, Deputy Regional Director of Amnesty International for the Middle East and North Africa, says: 'Officials are seeking to entrench a repressive system against women and girls while making their daily lives more unbearable.' She adds: 'The international community must not remain silent as Iranian officials draft further repression and even resort to the death penalty to suppress dissent against the mandatory hijab. They must pressure Iranian officials to repeal this law and abolish the mandatory hijab in both law and practice.' According to Dina al-Taeehawi, the global community must also pursue legal avenues to hold the Islamic Republic's officials accountable for widespread and systematic human rights violations against women and girls through the enforcement of mandatory hijab. Amnesty International states that the new 'Chastity and Hijab' law was enacted by the judiciary in response to widespread defiance by women and girls against the mandatory hijab following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, which sparked nationwide protests known as 'Women, Life, Freedom' in Iran. The restriction of women's freedoms under the guise of what is called the 'Chastity and Hijab Law' has been organized into 74 articles and 5 chapters, finalized after numerous back-and-forths between the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Guardian Council, and the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic. Under this 'law,' women who appear without the mandatory hijab in 'real or virtual spaces' more than four times will face accusations such as 'promoting or advertising nudity, immorality, uncovering hijab, or improper clothing,' and will be sentenced to at least a fine of 330 million tomans. This punishment, 'at the discretion of the judicial authority,' will also include 'a travel ban of up to two years' and 'a ban on activity in virtual spaces from six months to two years,' and 'in subsequent instances,' the monetary penalty will increase to 500 million tomans with 'one degree of intensification.' According to the published media table of penalties from grades one to eight of the Islamic Penal Code, repeating the act of appearing without the mandatory hijab more than four times results in a grade four monetary penalty (up to 330 million tomans), and 'one degree of intensification' means increasing the monetary penalty to grade three (up to 500 million tomans). Women who do not comply with government restrictions for enforcing mandatory hijab will be fined between five to 165 million tomans for the first four offenses. Furthermore, based on Article 71 of this law, the government is required to allocate an annual budget for the provision of cameras for this plan to the command of the Islamic Republic's Law Enforcement Force. In part of this law, designing or advertising items such as clothing, body figures, and toys, if claimed by its authors to be 'promoting nudity' and 'uncovering hijab and improper clothing,' is considered a crime and will face monetary and supplementary punishments. According to this law, the presence of opponents of mandatory hijab in real or virtual spaces will lead to penalties for business owners in both virtual and non-virtual realms, as well as for organizers of groups, tours, and platforms for broadcasting audio or video in virtual spaces. Concerns of the government regarding 'civil disobedience' in the event of implementing the 'Chastity and Hijab' law, the narrative of trust regarding four 'paths' to prevent the implementation of the 'Chastity and Hijab' law, dozens of journalists declaring their 'firm opposition' to the mandatory hijab law, a group of students stating that the student community will not accept the mandatory hijab plan, statements from hundreds of Iranian filmmakers rejecting the 'Hijab Law' as an insult to Iranians, civil institutions and activists stating that the mandatory hijab law contradicts children's rights, and filmmakers declaring the mandatory hijab law as a 'full-scale war against the Iranian people' are also highlighted.