Hengaw: The Islamic Republic is Working to 'Stabilize the Situation of Gender Apartheid'

The human rights organization 'Hengaw' assessed the intensification of economic and security crimes related to mandatory hijab on Thursday, October 5, as part of efforts to 'stabilize the situation of gender apartheid' in the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling on the global human rights community to refer to the Islamic Republic by this name—gender apartheid. The bill known as 'Hijab and Chastity' has been approved by the Guardian Council of the Islamic Republic and sent to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Hengaw wrote in a report that this bill emphasizes not only violent actions against women and the queer community regarding mandatory hijab but also broader implementation of 'gender segregation' in universities, administrative and educational centers, as well as parks and recreational areas, and even gender segregation in hospital treatment sectors. According to this report, the bill grants permission for 'field actions' against women to three intelligence agencies of the Islamic Republic, including the Ministry of Intelligence, the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Fara Ja intelligence organization, as well as the police command, the Basij of the IRGC, and the so-called 'Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Headquarters.' Hengaw noted that another important aspect of Article 38 of this bill states that 'any person who collaborates with governments, networks, media, groups, or foreign or hostile organizations, or engages in organized promotion of nudity, immorality, hijablessness, or inappropriate dress' shall be sentenced to imprisonment and a fourth-degree monetary penalty. This human rights organization also pointed out that the definition of what the bill calls 'improper dress in public' in Article 49 is not limited to women's clothing and, considering the increasing visibility of the queer community in Iran in recent years, especially during the 'Jin, Jiyan, Azadi' movement, it also addresses the free sexual and gender expression of men without specific reference to the queer community. Accordingly, for these cases, Article 49 of this bill anticipates that 'individuals accused of improper dress will be punished with a maximum sixth-degree monetary penalty for the first offense and a fifth-degree monetary penalty for subsequent offenses.' Hengaw indicated that the definition of 'improper dress for men' in Article 49 states: 'Wearing clothing that contradicts public decency, such as revealing clothing or clothing that exposes parts of the body below the chest or above the calf or shoulder.' This human rights organization added: 'Although this type of clothing for men cannot be attributed solely to queer men, considering the criminalization of free gender expression concerning the queer community, these provisions clearly target this segment of society with the gender attributed to men.' Meanwhile, Article 49 describes 'improper dress for women in public' as 'wearing clothing that contradicts public decency, such as revealing and tight clothing or clothing that exposes parts of the body below the neck or above the ankle or above the forearms.' The report indicates that the Islamic Republic, through this bill, is mobilizing other sections of society against women and the queer community by anticipating monetary penalties and closing businesses that provide services to opponents of mandatory hijab. Hengaw emphasized that since the inception of the Islamic Republic, it has mobilized Iranian patriarchal society against women and the queer community, adding that the criminalization of the lives and free expression of women and sexual and gender minorities begins with issues of clothing and free gender expression and progresses to the complete criminalization of the lives of individuals in the queer community. According to this report, the economic subjugation of women is evident not only through Iran's gender gap index ranking 143 out of 146 countries but also through the very low employment rates for women, which peak at only 18 percent, as well as the lack of accurate statistics on the economic status of the queer community in Iran, which lives in a state of criminalization and stigmatization, representing another aspect of the economic subjugation of these two segments of society, which constitute more than half of the population. Hengaw wrote that the intensification of economic and security crimes related to mandatory hijab is aimed at stabilizing the situation of gender apartheid in the Islamic Republic of Iran and, while strongly condemning this action of the Islamic Republic, called on the global human rights community to refer to the Islamic Republic by this name—gender apartheid. This human rights organization also urged all international bodies involved in international law to incorporate the definition of gender apartheid into the international legal order and to categorize systems like the Islamic Republic, which systematically discriminates against women and the queer community through legal, structural, and systematic means from criminalization to state-sanctioned killings, under this title. The approval of the bill known as 'Chastity and Hijab' by the Guardian Council and its transmission to the Islamic Consultative Assembly coincides with the second anniversary of the killing of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police and the beginning of nationwide protests, during which the UN fact-finding committee warned that the Islamic Republic has intensified its efforts to suppress the fundamental rights of women and girls and 'destroy the remnants of women's activities.'