Hengaw: The approval of the "Hijab and Chastity Bill" by the Guardian Council solidifies gender apartheid in Iran
The "Hijab and Chastity Bill," which was introduced as a government plan by the Judicial and Legal Commission of Parliament in response to the "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi" protest movement, was approved today, on September 25, 2024 , by the Guardian Council of the Islamic Republic. This bill will increase the hardships faced by women and sexual and gender minorities in Iran under the Islamic Republic’s gender apartheid regime.
In this bill, in addition to violent enforcement of compulsory hijab for women and the queer community, there is a focus on expanding "gender segregation" in universities, administrative and educational centers, parks, recreational spaces, and even in hospital treatment sections.
The bill, which contains 69 articles, grants three intelligence agencies — the Ministry of Intelligence, the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC, and the Intelligence Organization of Law Enforcement Command — as well as the Law Enforcement Command, the Basij, and the Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the authority to engage in "field confrontations" with women.
Additionally, this bill, by imposing new financial penalties on women and the queer community who refuse to comply with the hijab, places them in an even worse state of economic subjugation. Meanwhile, under the Islamic Republic’s security enforcement, punishments related to the hijab issue start with arrest, flogging, and prison sentences. In security cases, if the specific charge of 'corruption on Earth' is brought, it can legally progress to the death penalty under the Islamic Republic's Islamic Penal Code.
Article 38 of this bill states that 'any person who, in collaboration with foreign governments, networks, media, groups, or opposition organizations, or in an organized manner, promotes nudity, immorality, non-compliance with hijab, or inappropriate dressing' will be sentenced to fourth-degree imprisonment and fined. The fourth-degree fine is set between 500 million rials (50 million tomans) and 1 billion rials (100 million tomans).
This bill, in Article 49, does not limit the definition of 'inappropriate dressing' in public to women's clothing. It also addresses the free sexual and gender expression of men, considering the increased visibility of the queer community in Iran in recent years, especially during the 'Jin, Jiyan, Azadi' movement. Article 49 specifies that individuals accused of inappropriate dressing will face a maximum sixth-degree fine for the first offense and a fifth-degree fine for subsequent offenses.
The definition of inappropriate dressing for men in this article states: 'Wearing clothing that contradicts public decency, such as revealing clothing or clothing that exposes any part of the body below the chest or above the calf or shoulder.' While this type of dress for men cannot be solely attributed to queer men, the criminalization of free gender expression clearly targets this section of society based on the gender associated with men.
The same article defines women’s inappropriate dressing in public as: "Wearing clothing that violates public decency, such as tight or transparent clothes, or clothing that exposes parts of the body below the neck, above the ankles, or above the forearms.
The Islamic Republic is also mobilizing other parts of society against women and the queer community by imposing fines and shutting down businesses that provide services to individuals without hijab or those deemed "poorly veiled.
According to Article 41, "Owners of businesses, professions, and virtual or non-virtual workplaces who promote a lack of hijab in their place of business" will face third-degree fines or be required to pay three months' profit from their business, and at the judge’s discretion, be banned from leaving the country for six months to two years.
This bill also defines penalties for influential figures on social networks, making it clear that prominent figures advocating in the area of freedoms related to clothing will face new forms of criminalization.
Article 43 states: "If a person with fame or social influence commits crimes related to this law in virtual or non-virtual spaces, in addition to being sentenced to the prescribed punishment, they will be fined a second-degree penalty or 10% of their total assets (excluding exempted debts), whichever is greater, and banned from professional or occupational activities for six months to five years. At the judge’s discretion, they may also be banned from leaving the country for two years, prohibited from public activity in virtual spaces for six months to two years, and required to delete previous content that violated the law, with all granted discounts, exemptions, and privileges revoked.
The escalation of punishments for influential figures opposing compulsory hijab clearly aims to suppress the movement that emerged after the killing of Jina Amini, a movement which spread due to the reactions and solidarity of many prominent figures against compulsory hijab.
The Islamic Republic from the very beginning of its formation mobilized the patriarchal society of Iran against women and the queer community.
Criminalization of the life and free expression of women and sexual and gender minorities begins with the issue of clothing and free gender expression and goes up to the complete criminalization of human life in the queer community. The economic marginalization of women is not only observable through the gender gap index of 143 for Iran among 146 countries in the world, but also through the very low employment statistics of women, which at its highest reaches a maximum of 18 percent, and the lack of accurate statistics on the economic status of the queer community in Iran, which lives in a state of pathologization and absolute criminalization, is another manifestation of the economic marginalization of these two sections of society; which constitute more than half of the society.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights considers the intensification of economic and security-related crimes tied to compulsory hijab as part of the solidification of gender apartheid in the Islamic Republic. Hengaw strongly condemns this action by the Islamic Republic and calls on the global human rights community to refer to the Islamic Republic as a gender apartheid regime.
Hengaw also calls on international organizations working in international law to include the definition of gender apartheid in the international legal system, and to classify regimes like the Islamic Republic, which systematically and legally discriminate against women and the queer community, from criminalization to state-sponsored killings, under this title.
