A Law to Address Budget Deficits
A Law to Address Budget Deficits
The law on chastity and hijab, aimed at what has been described as strengthening the family, has been sent to the government for promulgation by Masoud Pezeshkian. Now, the President of Iran must sign and implement this law. However, individuals such as the President’s assistant for social rights and freedoms find the implementation of this law impractical. This topic has sparked widespread debate among Iranians in recent days. The details of the Family Support Law through promoting the culture of chastity and hijab were published in Iranian media on December 1. The law repeatedly emphasizes strengthening the family.
The drafting of the hijab and chastity bill began in 2023, following the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini in 2022 in the custody of the morality police and widespread protests regarding the hijab, morality police, and women’s freedoms. At that time, the morality patrols were disbanded, but since women were appearing in public places with optional hijabs, it was decided to draft a law for hijab. The hijab and chastity bill was rejected several times by the Guardian Council and sent back to Parliament for amendments. The latest changes by Parliament managed to satisfy the Guardian Council. This report was prepared in interviews with several citizens in Iran, using pseudonyms to protect their safety.
Public Reports or Informing on Others
Some clauses of this law aim to encourage public participation in identifying individuals without mandatory hijab, including creating a system for receiving public reports. Bahar’s car was impounded due to one such public report for not wearing mandatory hijab. She says the creation of a reporting system will expand this practice, which is an effort to normalize informing on others. Sara, another citizen, believes this method makes everyone suspicious and distrustful of each other, as anyone could report you at any moment.
This law requires internet taxis to prepare their communication systems within two months to report passengers violating the hijab and chastity law. In this case, the driver is exempt from paying fines. Mr. Rasoul, an internet taxi driver, says his taxi has been impounded twice in the past two years. He does not believe in this law, but whenever he has warned a woman, he has often faced negative reactions, and several times, passengers have canceled the trip. Now, what are we supposed to do?
Ms. Yasaman is a café owner whose café has been sealed and unsealed several times. She says unsealing is difficult and complicated, so she is forced to warn everyone about hijab and hear that she is complicit with the government. Yasaman believes the government wants citizens to settle each other’s affairs. According to this law, women are to be blamed for their demands regarding optional hijab. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, former Secretary-General of the Executives of Construction Party, has said that for the law to be implemented, people must be convinced; otherwise, it is not enforceable. Many people will not comply with this law, even with heavy fines. He has suggested to the government to focus more on people’s lives and economy. Based on what he has heard, Mr. Pezeshkian has announced that this law is not enforceable and will cause problems, but he does not know what he intends to do.
Alternative for Non-Oil Government Revenues
The hijab and chastity law assigns specific duties and responsibilities to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the National Broadcasting Organization, the Islamic Propaganda Organization, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, the Ministry of Health, the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, municipalities and village councils, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, and the Vice Presidency for Women’s Affairs. According to the Speaker of Parliament, this law will be promulgated on December 14 and will be implemented experimentally for three years. The responsibilities of these agencies are almost similar, but the fines are a prominent aspect of this law.
Those who expose themselves in public or virtual spaces to the opposite sex will be fined. These individuals must be identified and fined through smart systems like Faraja. By ‘unveiling,’ it means not wearing a chador, scarf, headscarf, or similar items. Other fines are also included in this law, but monetary fines are at the forefront. Not adhering to mandatory hijab for the first time carries a fine of up to 18 million tomans. If the managers of complexes and neighborhoods do not provide CCTV footage to officers, they will be fined between 18 to 36 million tomans. These fines increase upon repetition. Those who insult or confront hijab enforcers will be fined between 8 to 18 million tomans.
Additionally, for each impounded vehicle, the driver must pay the cost of transfer to the parking lot, settle the vehicle’s violations, and pay the parking fees. All these can be considered part of government revenue. Amirhossein Bankipour, Vice Chairman of the Cultural Commission and one of the law’s designers, explicitly confirmed in an interview that the essence of the law is cultural and economic, and individuals are to be identified and fined through cameras. Mr. Ali, a professor at the University of Tehran, referring to the status of women’s hijab in Iran, says the government knows women will not revert to the past, so it aims to generate revenue from it. This revenue is stable and increasing.
Ms. Elaheh, a teacher, says the fines create a divide between over 90% of society and the wealthy. These fines are equivalent to a month’s salary for an employee. In her opinion, some may be able to pay the fines, but the majority cannot, so they must go to prison. The deadline for paying cash fines is 10 days after the final verdict, and if not paid, the defendant will be deprived of services such as issuing or renewing passports, registering or renewing vehicle plates, issuing exit permits from the country, releasing impounded vehicles, and issuing or renewing driving licenses. Mona, a 15-year-old girl, says that upon announcing the law and fines, her father said he is not willing to pay the fine because it exceeds his salary by three million tomans.
Nasrin Sotoudeh and Sedigheh Vasmaghi, activists of the women’s movement, have declared in a statement that while two years have passed since the Women’s Life Freedom movement, various governmental bodies have now joined forces to present mandatory hijab in a ridiculous show as a medieval law known as hijab and chastity.
It Matters Who the President Is
During his election campaign, Masoud Pezeshkian explicitly opposed the morality patrols and mandatory hijab, and at that time, the slogan ‘It matters who the president is’ became active. The Sazandegi newspaper on the front page of its December 3 issue wrote with the headline ‘Promise kept?’ questioning whether the president will stick to his promises or implement the hijab and chastity bill.
Simultaneously with the publication of the law, some women reacted to it, including Neda, a theater director, who in protest against this law, published her photo without hijab. Maryam Lotfi, a social journalist, wrote on the X network that Romina Ashrafi’s father was sentenced to nine years for the intentional murder of his daughter, and Mona Heydari’s husband was sentenced to eight years and two months for beheading her. But according to the hijab law, sending a film or photo about hijab to individuals or foreign media for the first time carries a penalty of two to five years, and if repeated, five to ten years imprisonment along with a fine of 330 to 500 million tomans. This fine also applies to media; they cannot collaborate or interview with those who have previously appeared with optional hijab.
With the publication of the hijab law over the past three days, it has faced numerous criticisms, to the extent that Sakineh Sadat Pad, the President’s assistant in pursuing social rights and freedoms, wrote on the X network that rushing to implement a law that even among jurists, lawyers, literati, psychologists, sociologists, and the public is debatable is not in accordance with wisdom and rationality.
A good law has social acceptance. She has asked Mr. Pezeshkian to convene a meeting of the heads of the three branches. Ali Larijani, advisor to the leader of Iran, has also said that a law that cannot convince the people cannot be implemented and is just a law on paper.
Azar Mansouri, head of the Reform Front, also considers this law a failure and wrote on the X network, ‘Do you remember dear Mahsa’s attire before her arrest? Compare her attire with the average attire of Iranian women today to see the dimensions of this failure more clearly.’ Abbas Akhoundi, a reformist activist, wrote in a letter to Mr. Pezeshkian that the fundamental flaws of the resolution cannot be resolved with amendments and should be referred to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, as a problem or power dispute, to have the resolution annulled with his consent. Emphasizing the separation of spaces dedicated to women and men in hospital, university, and even allocating a percentage of recreational areas to women are other sections of the chastity law.
According to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Parliament, this law will be communicated to the President on December 14 to be signed and promulgated according to Article 123 of the Constitution. He has five days to sign it and then must communicate it to the executors. So far, Mr. Pezeshkian has not reacted to this law to determine whether it matters who the president is or not. He has until December 19 to make a decision in this regard.
