Republication of a Report by a Government Institute: '49 Percent' of the People of Iran Do Not Want Mandatory Hijab

A government-affiliated center of the Islamic Republic has published a report on the serious change in public opinion regarding hijab in Iran in recent years, stating that the republic has republished this report 'simultaneously with the phenomenon of the Girl of Revolution Street.' The report indicates that while in 2006, 'nearly 34 percent' of the people opposed the mandatory hijab, eight years later, the number of opponents of mandatory hijab in Iran has reached '49 percent.' This research study was conducted by the Strategic Studies Center of the Presidency. The study, which was prepared in 2014 under the title 'Hijab: Pathology of Past Policies, Looking to the Future,' was re-published this past Sunday on the website of the Strategic Studies Center of the Presidency. The study shows that in the past decade, the views of Iranian citizens regarding mandatory hijab have seriously changed, with about half of the people in Iran believing that hijab is a 'private' matter. In recent weeks, in protest against mandatory hijab, a young woman known on social media as 'Vida Mohadd' stood on a platform in Revolution Street, Tehran, removed her headscarf, and waved it like a flag after tying it to a stick. Following her actions, other women also emulated Mohadd, who became known as the 'Girl of Revolution Street,' to show their protest against mandatory hijab, leading to the Iranian police announcing the arrest of at least 29 women in connection with this matter. The data from this research, which includes the results of surveys conducted by the Iranian Students Polling Agency in 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2014, shows that a significant portion of the Iranian population's views on restrictions on women's dress, one of the most important changes after the Islamic Revolution, have changed. According to this study, in 2006, nearly 34 percent of the survey participants opposed the 'dictation' of women's dress by the government. This figure had risen to 49 percent by 2014. Regarding specific types of dress, including the chador, in 2006, 54 percent of respondents supported this dress, but this figure decreased to 35 percent by 2014. Furthermore, while half of the surveyed population in 2006 believed in the necessity of legal action against those disregarding hijab, this figure dropped to 39 percent by 2014. The statistical findings of this survey become more significant when we know that according to a report from the Strategic Studies Center, in 1974, just four years before the Islamic Revolution, three-quarters of men, or 75 percent of them, preferred their wives to wear hijab, while only seven percent preferred a wife without hijab. The accuracy of this survey and the scientific validity of its methodology have not been confirmed by independent statistical institutions. Another study regarding the percentage of supporters of optional hijab examines the data from the third wave of the 'Survey of Values and Attitudes of Iranians,' which was prepared in September and October 2015 at the National Projects Office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and also contains different statistics in this regard. Mohsen Maljou, a political economy graduate and researcher, recently published an article titled 'Where Do Iranians Stand: For or Against the Girls of Revolution Street?' examining public opinion changes regarding hijab in Iran based on data from the National Projects Office of the Ministry of Culture. This researcher analyzed what he called 'interpretations and assumptions and non-arbitrary calculations' in the results of this research, examining the distribution of respondents' opinions on support for optional hijab or mandatory hijab based on marital status. According to him, in a chart designed to present this data, 'as one moves along a spectrum starting with single and continuing with married and ending with others, the percentage of support for optional hijab also decreases.' According to Maljou, in all three groups distinguished by marital status, 'the majority supports optional hijab: among singles, 83.3 percent support optional hijab, among married individuals, 76.7 percent, and among 'others,' 71.3 percent.' The distribution of respondents' opinions regarding support for optional hijab or mandatory hijab based on gender shows that the percentage of women supporting optional hijab is slightly lower than the percentage of men supporting optional hijab. However, among both women and men, the majority generally supports optional hijab: 79 percent of men and 77.6 percent of women. The five provinces with the highest percentage of support for optional hijab are: Alborz (91.7), Fars (90.9), Gilan (88.7), West Azerbaijan (85.8), and Tehran (84.8). Additionally, the five provinces with the highest percentage of support for mandatory hijab are: South Khorasan (51.6), Sistan and Baluchestan (41.5), Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad (34.4), North Khorasan (32.9), and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari (32.7). According to Maljou, however, supporters of optional hijab are in the majority in all provinces of Iran except for South Khorasan, where supporters of mandatory hijab only have a fragile majority. While official research centers in Iran indicate a significant increase in the desire for the hijab issue to be private among the Iranian people, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, has accused women protesting mandatory hijab of consuming 'industrial substances.' Following the arrest of at least 29 women who removed their headscarves in the streets in protest against mandatory hijab, he stated that they were either 'unaware and expressed regret' or were individuals who 'consumed industrial substances,' and some were 'guided' in their actions. Prior to him, several media outlets affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards had referred to these individuals as 'victims of the undercover freedom campaign.' The undercover freedom campaign was launched by journalist Masih Alinejad, residing in the United States, to combat mandatory hijab in Iran in recent years, which has been welcomed by many Iranian women both inside and outside the country. This campaign has recently been calling on its supporters to come out on the streets every Wednesday wearing white headscarves to protest mandatory hijab and then send images of their protests to this campaign. The response to the actions of Vida Mohadd and other women in removing their headscarves in the streets was so widespread that the hashtag 'Girls_of_Revolution_Street' became one of the main trends on Twitter.