The Iranian government announced the creation of a “treatment clinic” for women who do not comply with mandatory hijab laws. A hijab is a head covering that some Muslim women wear.
The announcement comes just over a week after a female Iranian college student stripped down to her underwear in protest in Tehran. Iran’s morality police arrested the woman for not dressing in accordance with Sharia law.
A spokesperson for the Iranian government said the woman is a “troubled individual” who was placed in a treatment center to receive care, according to Reuters.
Human rights group Amnesty International condemned the move, stating that Iranian authorities are waging a war on women and girls through increasing violent crackdowns “on those defying draconian compulsory veiling laws” and have intensified their use of the death penalty to silence dissent.
In September 2022, a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa (also known as Zhina) Amini and her brother were visiting Tehran when they were stopped by the morality police. Amini was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.
Amnesty International said Iranian police pushed Amini into a van and beat her while taking her to an educational reform class. However, she fell into a coma and died in custody three days later.
Amini’s death sparked nationwide protests. Iranian officials have used torture and execution to punish those who challenge Iranian laws.
Iran’s head of the Women and Family Department of the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced the new treatment facility will offer “scientific and psychological treatment for hijab removal,” according to The Guardian.
