Iran introduces stricter penalties for persons defying compulsory morality laws. The 74-article law titled ‘Protection of the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab’ imposes severe penalties including fines up to $2,380, flogging, prison sentences of up to 15 years or even death.
The law was drafted by the judiciary in May 2023 following the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ uprising in September 2022. The Guardian Council approved the bill earlier this year and was passed by the Iranian parliament on December 1. The law will be implemented from December 13 onwards with a trial period of 3 years.
Amnesty International issued a statement on Tuesday noting that the new law has been adopted to crush the ongoing resistance to compulsory veiling, further diminishing the rights of women.
“The authorities are seeking to entrench the already suffocating system of repression against women and girls while making their daily lives even more intolerable,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office.
Human Rights Watch published an article in October 2024 stating that the law consolidates existing measures to enforce compulsory hijab by putting in place restrictions on employment and educational opportunities for violators.
“Rather than responding to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement with fundamental reforms, the autocratic government is trying to silence women with even more repressive dress laws,” said Nahid Naghshbandi, acting Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This law will only breed fierce resistance and defiance among women in and outside Iran.”
“Corruption on earth”
The new law defines different degrees of ‘improper dressing’ with varying penalties. Immodest clothing for women is defined as tight clothing that exposes parts of the body below the neck, above the ankles or above the forearms. Immodest clothing for men refers tight clothing that exposes any part of the body below the chest and above the knees or sleeveless shirts that expose the shoulders.
Depending on the degree and frequency of violation, violators can face fines ranging from $160 to $22,000.
‘Bad dressing’ can result in a fine of $160 for the first infraction and $4,000 for the fourth infraction; subsequent offences risk a fine of around $8,000, up to five years in prison, two-year ban on social media and two-year travel ban (Article 38 and 48).
‘Nudity’ or anything that could be perceived as nudity in public or virtual spaces can lead to immediate detention, prosecution, a fine of up to $12,000 or up to 10 years in prison; repeat offenders can be fined around $22,000 or imprisoned for up to 15 years (Article 49).
‘Public indecency’ is punishable under Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code which prescribes flogging of the offender (Article 67).
Article 37 provides that “promoting or propagating nudity, indecency, unveiling, or bad dressing” in collaboration with entities including the government, media and civil society organisations, may be punished by a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $12,000. In case the conduct amounts to ‘corruption on earth’, it can be punishable by death under Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code.
In accordance with Article 37, any person defying or assisting another defy the morality laws can possibly be sentenced to death.
The law also provides blanket impunity for ‘vigilantes’ carrying out their ‘religious duty’. Businesses, employers and other third parties are encouraged to monitor and report ‘offensive activities’. Centres for promoting the ‘culture of chastity and hijab’ are prescribed to ‘develop family-centric spaces and society’.
President’s reluctant approval
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X last week that his signing of legislation is largely ceremonial and that the hijab law is ambiguous. “We should not do anything to disturb the harmony and empathy of society. We have to talk and interact about the issue,” he wrote.
Pezeshkian has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with the country’s dress code rules since his appointment through popular vote on a reformist platform. He had spoken out about compulsory hijab, the Raisi-era dress laws and the death of Mahsa Amini under custody during his election campaign, promising to end morality police.
Negar Mortazavi, editor and host of the Iran Podcast, told CNN that Pezekhian can not stop the implementation of the law as any intervention hinges on “Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s tacit approval.”
Consequences
Bahar Ghandehari, the Director of Communications at the Center for Human Rights in Iran, told Newsweek that the law not only enables a regime of gender apartheid but also attempts to turn citizens into spies.
“It’s requiring students and teachers to be judged by their hijab compliance, not by their performance. It threatens punishments for cultural figures in the art and sport and other social influencers who challenge compliance. It is desperate in its scope, trying to turn citizen against citizen in the face of widespread societal rejection in Iran of mandatory hijab,” she said.
Saeid Dehghan, a human rights lawyer at the Parsi Law Collective, told the Guardian that “nearly all provisions of this law contravene fundamental principles, such as article 9 of the Iranian constitution, which prohibits legislation that undermines citizens’ freedoms even in the name of national sovereignty.
Mohammad Nayyeri, a lecturer in law at Brunel University of London, told Newsweek that the law has been “designed to outmanoeuvre these acts of resistance and shrink spaces for personal freedoms even further by effectively putting the Iranian regime on a war footing.”
Nayyeri also note that the law might serve as inspiration for regimes with similar ideologies as “bad practices tend to spread across borders.” (Agencies)
