Iran "Terrorizing" Women Through Hijab Crackdown: Amnesty International

The Islamic Republic's authorities are "terrorizing" women by waging a large-scale campaign to enforce compulsory hijab laws in Iran, said Amnesty International.

The authorities have started extensive surveillance of women and girls in public spaces coupled with mass police checks specifically targeting women drivers. 

Consequently, thousands of Iranian women have been deprived of their vehicles, confiscated without justification, as a consequence of alleged violations of Iran's hijab laws.

Several others have been punished with flogging, imprisonment, fines, or mandatory attendance in "morality" classes, according to a report published by Amnesty International on March 5.

Testimonies collected by the human rights organization, along with official documents like court verdicts, show that multiple state agencies in Iran are persecuting women and girls for expressing their rights to freedom of expression and belief.

Amnesty gathered testimonies from 46 people – 41 women, one girl, one trans woman, and four men – in February 2024.

It has shared excerpts from 20 testimonies to shed light on the challenging daily experiences of women and girls under the Islamic Republic.

Many witnesses in the report say they were arrested and put on trial in recent months.

“In a sinister attempt to wear down resistance to compulsory veiling in the wake of the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ uprising, Iran’s authorities are terrorizing women and girls by subjecting them to constant surveillance and policing, disrupting their daily lives and causing them immense mental distress," said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

All women in Iran are stipulated to conceal their hair with a headscarf or hijab, and wear loose-fitting trousers under their coats while in public. But a growing number of Iranian women have appeared in public without head coverings.

As a result, the Ministry of Interior has intensified pressure to enforce the hijab law, deploying enforcers on the streets, imposing fines for refusing to wear a headscarf, confiscating their cars, and denying them government services.