Tehran, Iran: The Iranian government has announced plans to open a clinic aimed at treating women who defy the country’s mandatory hijab laws, which require women to cover their heads in public.
Mehri Talebi Darestani, head of the Women and Family Department of Tehran’s Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, revealed that the “hijab removal treatment clinic” would offer “scientific and psychological treatment” for women who do not comply with the law.
This move has sparked outrage among Iranian women and human rights organizations and the news has fueled protests among the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and female student groups.
This announcement follows reports of a university student arrested for protesting against campus security’s treatment of her over the hijab law. She was reportedly transferred to a psychiatric hospital.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have expressed concern over the use of violence, torture, and forced medication on political dissidents and protesters labeled mentally unstable by authorities.
The crackdown on women violating the hijab law has intensified, with a growing number of arrests, forced disappearances, and business closures.
Recently, the Center for Human Rights in Iran highlighted the case of Roshanak Molaei Alishah, a 25-year-old woman arrested after confronting a man who harassed her for her hijab. Her current whereabouts remain unknown.
The move reflects the growing tension between the state’s rigid enforcement of its ideological laws and the defiant resistance from Iranian women, who continue to demand autonomy over their bodies and choices.
As protests and outcry spread, the situation highlights the ongoing struggle for women’s rights in Iran, with the international community calling for an end to such repressive measures.
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