Iran’s new hijab laws as employed by the government

 

As a result of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's directive to enforce the nation's hijab and chastity law, there are now additional guidelines for how women should dress.

Iran's Bank Mellat, which has more than 1,400 branches, has issued a regulation forbidding female employees from wearing high-heeled shoes and stockings as part of a crackdown on what the government refers to as "improper hijab." Additionally, it restricts the use of female administrative assistance by its male bosses.

The July 5 regulation also mandates that veiled women wear a head scarf that must cover the neck and shoulders in addition as the hair.

On July 5, the city prosecutor's office in Mashhad also released a letter asking the mayor to bar women who are wearing "improper hijabs" from accessing the train. The mayor said that even though the directive "lacks any legal backing," a court order should be issued so it can be put into effect.

In reaction to the government's mounting pressure, numerous social media activists have encouraged women in Iranian cities to demonstrate on July 12 without wearing a headscarf.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and girls over the age of nine in Iran were required to wear the hijab in public.

In addition, as the regime continues its more harsh crackdown on women's attire, the Iranian government plans to utilize facial recognition technology on public transportation to detect women who are not adhering to a strict new law on wearing the hijab.

Following a new law restricting women's clothing that was signed by the nation's hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, the secretary of Iran's Headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, Mohammad Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, revealed in a recent interview that the government planned to use surveillance technology against women in public places.

The national "Hijab and Chastity Day" on July 12 provoked nationwide protests by women who posted videos of themselves on social media with their heads uncovered on the streets, in buses, and in trains. The edict was signed on August 15—a month after that day. The Iranian government has responded in recent weeks with a wave of arrests, detentions, and forced confessions on television.