Women's Rights & Movements in IranIranian police start summer crackdown on women's dress

Iranian police start summer crackdown on women’s dress

-

Reuters: Iranian police have launched a crackdown on women’s dress before the summer season when soaring temperatures typically tempt many to flout the strict Islamic dress code, witnesses and Iranian state media said on Sunday. By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian police have launched a crackdown on women’s dress before the summer season when soaring temperatures typically tempt many to flout the strict Islamic dress code, witnesses and Iranian state media said on Sunday.

Such crackdowns have become a regular feature of Iranian life in the summer as police confront growing numbers of young women testing the limits of the law with shorter, brighter and skimpier clothing.

Under Iran’s Islamic Sharia law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures and protect their modesty.

Violators can receive lashes, fines or imprisonment.

“Police have started from Saturday to confront those women who appear in public in an inappropriate way,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mehdi Ahmadi, a spokesman of the capital’s police force, as saying.

Many young women, particularly in wealthier urban areas, shun the traditional head-to-toe black chador, wearing calf-length Capri pants, tight-fitting, thigh-length coats and brightly colored scarves pushed back to expose plenty of hair.

The Islamic dress code is less commonly challenged in poor suburbs and rural regions.

Police in Iran’s capital, Tehran, have so far stopped more than 1,300 women and warned them against breaching the dress code, Ahmadi said, adding “the cases of 59 women have been referred to the court.”

The fate of women who police decide are “badly veiled” depends on the officers concerned. They may be released with a caution, or taken to a police station and freed on bail, said the Kargozaran daily.

“Those women who resist the guidance of police may be detained,” it quoted a senior police official as saying.

Under eight years of moderate Mohammad Khatami’s presidency, who was elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2001 on a platform of social and political reform, enforcement of social restrictions such as Islamic dress codes for women relaxed.

But even under Khatami there were sporadic crackdowns and police arrested many young women.

Since hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidency in 2005 after promising a return to the values of the revolution, hardliners have pressed for tighter controls on “immoral behavior.”

But some analysts are worried that taking a tough line could backfire when the government needs popular support in its standoff with the West over Iran’s nuclear program.

The West fears Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb under cover of a civilian program. Iran says it wants nuclear technology to generate electricity.

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

Iran to put a monkey into space: report

AFP: Iran plans to send a live monkey into...

Iran rolls back on pledge to free sailor

AP: Iran on Thursday rolled back on a pledge...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you