New Bill to Maintain Mandatory Hijab; From 'Profiteering' to Efforts to Preserve Discriminatory Laws

In the ongoing struggle of the Islamic Republic's institutions to confront civil disobedience by women against mandatory hijab, the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Headquarters has criticized the Judiciary's bill and proposed a plan with harsher penalties. Experts tell Voice of America that these actions, while attempting to preserve discriminatory laws, represent a form of 'government profiteering.' The 'Support for the Culture of Chastity and Hijab' bill, sent to the Islamic Consultative Assembly by the Judiciary a week ago through the government, faced widespread opposition in the Islamic Republic, including from Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief appointed by Ali Khamenei at Kayhan newspaper, who described it as leading to 'the spread of unveiled women.' Additionally, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Razavi Khorasan Province, referred to it in a Friday prayer sermon as 'protection of unveiled women' and urged the parliament not to pass a bill that would impose financial penalties on individuals for disregarding religious rituals, similar to not wearing a seatbelt. Hossein Hamdani, the Friday prayer leader of Karaj, also referred to mandatory hijab as the 'Berlin Wall' of the Islamic Republic, stating that this bill cannot prevent the collapse of the Berlin Wall against the plans of enemies. Meanwhile, according to the online newspaper Faraz, the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Headquarters has proposed a bill that, according to Faraz, is a 'practical criticism from hardline factions against the Judiciary's bill' and has 'meaningful differences' from the previous bill. According to this report, 'considering extra-legal responsibilities for managers, owners, and operators of executive agencies, private collections, residential complexes, and vehicles to deal with those who do not comply with mandatory hijab' is among the differences of this proposal from the Judiciary's bill. Based on the proposal from the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Headquarters, this institution, along with the Judiciary and the Basij of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is required to train 'supervisors and enforcers' to confront violators of mandatory hijab. This headquarters has also suggested that the Judiciary provide 'legal' support for 'promoters of virtue' so that 'any assault or criminal act against promoters of virtue and preventers of vice, in addition to retaliation or blood money, will be subject to a fifth-degree punitive punishment,' 'unless a harsher punishment is prescribed in the law.' According to the bill presented by the government, the police are the only judicial agents authorized to issue warnings via text message to those who do not comply with mandatory hijab and 'unveil,' and upon repeat offenses, they could face fines up to 166,000 tomans, and on the third offense, around 330,000 tomans. According to the Judiciary's proposal, 'the punishment for revealing part of the body or wearing thin, revealing, or tight clothing in public or online' is also a fine of 'two million tomans,' and 'the punishment for complete nudity' is set at 'six to 24 million tomans' along with 'deprivation of sixth-degree social rights.' However, according to the proposal from the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Headquarters, 'non-compliance with religious dress code, eating during Ramadan, promoting literature and words contrary to public decency, using and promoting symbols and signs of vulgar Western culture, promoting and pretending to use psychoactive and intoxicating substances, physical intimacy and kissing between men and women leading to public decency being offended, walking dogs and promoting the keeping of decorative dogs, dancing contrary to public decency, and noise pollution by performing or broadcasting unauthorized and vulgar music' have been criminalized. According to this bill, enforcers will fine individuals for any of the mentioned offenses, starting with one million tomans for the first offense, two million tomans for the second, and six million tomans for the third. The fine increases to 24 million tomans for the fourth offense and 100 million tomans for the fifth, and on the sixth offense, in addition to the 100 million tomans fine, the individual may face two to five years of punitive imprisonment. The Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Headquarters has suggested that 'acts of nudity or semi-nudity' carry a fine of '100 million tomans' along with 'one to two years of imprisonment.' Dismissal from work, removal from public service, and permanent disqualification from managerial positions are other proposals from the Promotion of Virtue Headquarters for those who do not comply with mandatory hijab. Contrary to the Judiciary's proposal, which considers committing 'criminal acts' such as 'insult, defamation, threats, assault, or violation of privacy' as subject to legal punishment for those who violate mandatory hijab, the Promotion of Virtue Headquarters has deemed non-compliance with mandatory hijab 'outside the scope of privacy regulations' and emphasized that 'recording and documenting it for submission to enforcers and judicial authorities is permitted.' This headquarters has also requested that '100 percent' of the monetary fines resulting from the implementation of this proposal be allocated for 'covering equipment costs' and 'supporting grassroots activities' in combating 'manifestations of corruption and depravity.' Shahla Shafigh, a writer and sociologist, told Voice of America that mandatory hijab, while being the ideological flag of the Islamic Republic, is also a means for the government to profit from it. Roya Kashafi, a human rights activist, stated that over the past four decades, various instances of women's rights violations, including the use of pins in women's heads and acid attacks, have occurred, and the effort to maintain mandatory hijab by the Islamic Republic is actually aimed at preserving all discriminatory laws against women.