Iran’s parliament increased pressure on women who refuse to wear the veil by passing a bill on Wednesday that toughens sanctions that could include prison sentences.
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After months of discussions, MPs approved the text entitled “Supporting the culture of chastity and the veil”.
A total of 152 MPs voted for the text, 34 voted against and seven abstained.
This adoption came four days after the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, which sparked a major protest movement in the country.
This 22-year-old Iranian Kurd died on September 16, 2022 after being arrested by moral police for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.
In particular, his death sparked a revival of debate about this rule, one of the ideological pillars of the Islamic Republic since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979.
Prison sentences
In recent months, more and more women are going bareheaded in public places, especially in Tehran and major cities. In response, authorities took a number of initiatives, ranging from closing shops, particularly restaurants, to installing cameras on the streets to track down those defying the ban.
With a majority in power and in Parliament, the Conservatives vehemently defend the obligation to wear the veil and believe that its disappearance would trigger a process that would profoundly change “social norms”.
MPs approved the bill “for a probationary period of three years”.
This therefore provides for financial sanctions for “promoting nudity” or “mocking the hijab” in the media and on social networks. As well as fines and exit bans for entrepreneurs whose employees do not wear a veil.
“Vehicles whose driver or passenger does not wear a hijab or wears inappropriate clothing will be fined 5 million riyals” (around 10 euros), the text continues.
Clothing that is “tight” or “exposes a part of the body” is considered “inappropriate.”
At most, any person who commits this crime “in collaboration with governments, media, groups or organizations foreign or hostile” to the Islamic Republic “or in an organized manner” shall be punished with a fourth degree prison sentence or between 5 and 10 years, indicates the invoice.
“Risk of harassment”
To become law, the bill must be approved by the Guardian Council of the Constitution.
Currently, appearing “in public without a Muslim veil” is punishable by “a prison sentence of ten days to two months.”
On September 14, the Independent International Mission established by the United Nations after the 2022 unrest estimated that the new law, if passed, “would put women and girls at increased risk of violence, harassment and arbitrary detention.”
Since the beginning of the year, the benefits of tougher measures have been questioned by certain political leaders, particularly in the minority reform camp.
The reformers’ front expressed its concern about the effects of coercive measures against students.
In August, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi declared that “this affair with women who do not wear hijab” would “finally end.”
He believed that this problem had been exploited by the Islamic Republic’s “enemy,” a term usually aimed at Western countries and Iranian opponents abroad.