The government is planning to open a clinic to treat women who are reluctant to wear the hijab in public. However, women's and human rights organizations in Iran have expressed anger at the announcement of the opening of this special medical center.
This information was published in a report by The Guardian on Thursday (November 14).
The report said that according to the law, all women in Iran are obliged to wear the hijab. The government believes that those who do not wear the hijab have 'mental problems'. And the clinic is being opened to provide them with treatment.
Mehri Talebi Darestani, head of the women and family department at the Tehran headquarters of Iran's Ministry of Ethics, made the announcement. She said that 'scientific and psychological treatment for not wearing the hijab will be provided.' However, many have expressed anger at this.
Iranian human rights lawyer Hossein Raisi said that the plan is 'neither Islamic nor consistent with Iranian law.'
He added that what makes it even more frightening is that the announcement came from the Women and Family Department of the Ministry of Ethics and Morality’s Tehran headquarters. This department reports directly to the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
A woman, who asked not to be named, said, “This will not be a medical center. It will actually be a prison. We are struggling to meet our daily needs, and we are not getting proper electricity. But the state there is worried about a piece of cloth (hijab). If we have to start a movement, then everyone should come to the streets now. Otherwise, we will all end up in prison.”
Iran has been tightening its enforcement of the hijab law for the past few days. Those who break the law are being arrested. Many businesses are also being closed.
Meanwhile, state media reported that a female student was harassed by security guards on a university campus in Tehran for violating the hijab law. She took off her clothes to protest. She was then arrested and sent to a mental hospital. The announcement of the opening of this clinic came shortly after this incident.