New Iranian Hijab Bill Denies Jobs For Violators, Increases Fines, Imposes Internet Ban Up To 2 Years: Reports

In the latest act of crackdown on women's dissent in Iran, the Iranian regime has introduced a new hijab law in the parliament that increases punishments for violation of the country's dress code and carries internet ban as well. 

The proposed law also imposes greater gender segregation at public places, which already has regulations on the mingling of opposite genders in public. 

In recent weeks, the Iranian regime has cracked down on dissenting women, including well-known actresses, and has deployed the infamous 'morality police' on the streets and boosted surveillance measures. The regime is also cracking down on businesses that it has found to be in violation of its laws. 

Women in Iran are required to wear an Islamic head-covering called hijab. The hijab law was introduced after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, in which the conservative Islamic clergy took over the country after overthrowing the liberal, pro-West monarchy. For several months starting September 2022, Iran was rocked by nationwide women-led protests against the hijab law and the Iranian regime after the custodial death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was held by the morality police for allegedly violating the hijab law. 

More fines, internet ban, segregation: What's in the proposed hijab law?

The proposed hijab law in Iran expands the state's enforcement powers and increases punishments. 

The proposed hijab law, part of the ongoing crackdown on women's dissent in Iran, also imposes greater gender segregation in public places like universities and parks.

Currently, women are required to cover their head with hijabs in public. They are also banned from wearing form-fitting or revealing clothes. The mingling with the other gender in public is also regulated. 

Under the proposed new law, violators of the hijab law would be banned from employment opportunities, reported Iran International, adding that fines up to $1,000 could also be imposed.

"If approved, adherence to hijab laws would become a criterion for employment in public or private organisations in the future. Clothing that reveals the neck, arms above the wrist, and legs above the ankles will be considered 'inappropriate clothing' and will be punishable by a cash fine of up to 500 million rials ($1,000) for the first infringement," reported Iran International. 

Not covering the head will also be punishable by a cash fine of 240 to 500 million rials for the first instance and up to 1.5 billion rials if repeated more than four times, reported Iran International. 

The new law would treat the dress-code violation as "a state of nudity or semi-nudity" and such women would "immediately apprehended by officers and handed over to the judiciary", reported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). The report further says that such a behaviour would amount to promotion of nudity and immodesty. 

The women convicted under the new law could given a fine, a ban on leaving the country, and a ban on public activity on the internet for up to two years, reported RFE/RL.

The proposed law also expands the enforcement powers of the state. RFE/RL reports, "The bill, which has received the green light from the legislature's Judicial and Legal Committee, empowers three intelligence agencies —the Ministry of Intelligence, the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization, and the Intelligence Organization of the Judiciary— along with police, the Basij paramilitary forces, and the Command of Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong, to take action against women who break the rules."

The report also said that the proposed law prohibits "commissioning work or advertising from individuals or legal entities that promote non-hijab values in their activities inside or outside the country" in any form offline or online. 

Crackdown on celebrities supporting dissent 

Crackdown on prominent Iranians, like actresses and other celebrities, is a major focus of the proposed hijab law in Iran, notes Iran International. 

Iran International reports that the new law would confiscate up to 10 per cent of celebrities' assets and incomes upon violation. 

After the custodial death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022, widespread women-led protests took over Iran. For several weeks, protesters dominated Iranian streets and women defied the hijab law. They walked bare-headed, tore their hijabs, burnt hijabs, and cut their hair publicly in defiance of the Iranian regime. Several sportspersons and actresses also appeared in public without hijab to protest the regime's law and to express solidarity with he protesters. 

Though the immediate trigger was the death of Amini and the hijab law, experts said the disgruntlement with the regime and the Islamic Revolution itself came to the fore with the protests. The Iranian regime treated the protests with a heavy hand and hundreds were killed and thousands were arrested. 

Though the hijab law was formally imposed in 1983, hijab was socially imposed right after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when the new regime began to run the country with strict interpretation of Islamic law called Sharia. In the first two decades of the Islamic Revolution, inspectors ensured women's hair did not show from under women's headscarf and they did not wear makeup, nail polish, or "inappropriate accessories", reports Iran International, adding that clothing generally had to be black, brown, navy, gray, or beige and very loose-fitting. 

Prior to the Islamic Revolution, however, women were free to wear or not wear the hijab. Photos from the period show women in skirts and swimsuits. 

Over the years, however, the rules were relatively relaxed depending on which political faction was in power, and some makeup and a little colour in clothing became more acceptable, reports Iran International. Such moderation is now being backtracked as the morality police now patrols Iran with more surveillance in place. 

The protests have largely died down now and the Iranian regime is focussed on checking individual acts of resistance in everyday life. In the months after Amini's death, several women began to quietly go about their everyday lives without hijabs and visuals of women without hijab, often with faces covered, surfaced online in individual acts of resistance. 

In the past month alone, three well-known Iranian actresses —Azadeh Samadi, Leila Bolukat, Afsaneh Bayegan— have been convicted and handed varied prison terms and internet and travel bans as punishment. They were also diagnosed as mentally ill by the judges and were ordered treatment at state institutions. 

Several sportspersons too joined the dissent in months after Amini's death, such as chess players Sara Khadem and Atousa Pourkashiyan; competitive climber Elnaz; skater Niloufar Mardani; and wushu player Zahra Kiani. They participated in tournaments and appeared in public without hijabs. Elnaz's house was demolished by the authorities and Khadem had to move to Spain after receiving threats to her life. 

Iranian-American model Mahlagha Jaberi wore a dress with a noose-styled collar to the Cannes Film Festival to bring attention to executions in Iran. 

In a post on Instagram, Jaberi said, "We wanted to make a fashion statement to observe the glamour of Cannes, but more importantly, to bring media attention to the wrongful executions of Iranian people. Unfortunately, political statements are not allowed at the film festival and the security stopped me from showing the back of my dress, but the 'noose' meaning was well understood."