The Iranian Parliament increased pressure on women who refuse to wear the veil by approving a bill on Wednesday that toughens sanctions, which could include prison.
After months of discussion, the deputies gave their agreement to the text entitled “Support for the culture of chastity and the veil”.
A total of 152 MPs voted in favor of the text while 34 voted against and seven abstained.
This adoption came four days after the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, which triggered a vast protest movement in the country.
This 22-year-old Iranian Kurd died on September 16, 2022 after being arrested by the moral police for allegedly violating the strict dress code imposed on women.
His death notably relaunched the debate on this rule, one of the ideological pillars of the Islamic Republic since the fall of the Shah in 1979.
Prison sentences
In recent months, more and more women are going out bareheaded in public places, especially in Tehran and big cities. In response, the authorities took a series of initiatives, ranging from closing businesses, particularly restaurants, to installing cameras in the streets to track down those who defy the ban.
With a majority in power and in Parliament, the conservatives ardently defend the obligation of the veil and believe that its disappearance would launch a process which would profoundly modify “social norms”.
MPs approved the bill “for a trial period of three years”.
This thus provides for financial sanctions for the “promotion of nudity” or “mockery of the hijab” in the media and on social networks. As well as fines and bans on leaving the country for business owners whose employees do not wear veils.
“Vehicles whose driver or passenger does not wear a hijab or wears inappropriate clothing will be fined 5 million rials” (approximately CA$14.50), the text also indicates.
Clothing that is “tight” or “shows off a part of the body” is considered “inappropriate”.
At most, any person who commits this offense “in cooperation with governments, media, groups or organizations foreign or hostile” to the Islamic Republic, “or in an organized manner, will be sentenced to imprisonment of the fourth degree “, or between 5 to 10 years, indicates the bill.
“Risks of harassment”
To become law, the bill must be approved by the Council of Guardians of the Constitution.
Currently, appearing “in public without the Muslim veil” is punishable by “imprisonment of ten days to two months”.
On September 14, the Independent International Mission set up by the UN after the 2022 unrest estimated that, if adopted, the new law “would expose women and girls to increased risks of violence, harassment and arbitrary detention”.
Since the start of the year, the merits of tougher measures have been questioned by certain political leaders, particularly in the minority camp of reformers.
The Reformers’ Front thus expressed its concern about the impact of coercive measures against pupils and students.
In August, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi declared that “this affair of women not wearing the hijab” would “end definitively”.
He believed that this issue had been exploited by the “enemy” of the Islamic Republic, a term usually aimed at Western countries and Iranian opponents abroad.