Iran is the only country in the world that requires non-Muslim women to wear a headscarf.
The Iranian police officially warned on 23 February 2018 that the punishment of removing hijabs was of up to 10 years of imprisonment, based on Article 639 of the law.
Many women demonstrators have defiantly taken off their hijabs and burned them in bonfires or symbolically cut their hair in protest.
Islamic religious police organizations have aroused controversy both locally and internationally. The patrol enforces Islamic codes of conduct in public, such as preventing the mingling of unrelated men and women without a male guardian (mahram) for the latter, and preventing other types of behavior that are un-Islamic. It has been viewed as a scourge by urban women, particularly those from more affluent circles, who try to push the boundaries of dress code.
The list of punishments for women who disobey the dress code keeps intensifying. Hefty fines, banking restrictions, business closures, jail time, forced labour and travel bans. Being diagnosed as mentally ill.
In December 2019, the Vice Squad repealed a public order law that granted police the power to arrest women “who were found dancing, wearing trousers, vending on the streets or mixing with men who weren’t their relatives”, who might then be punished by “flogging, fines and, in rare cases, stoning and execution”.
A mission to impose Islamic dress codes and norms of conduct in public, particularly regarding the hijab of women, but also bisexual men who are deemed improperly dressed accordingly.
Circa the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, Iranian Law requires that all girls and women in the country cover their head and neck with a scarf or veil to conceal their hair. The best way to end the Me too movement is to prevent another revolt. According to the Iranian Interior Minister, in a three month period, 220,000 ladies were detained and transport to local police precinct, mandated to sign off on declarations where they dress in the customary attire. To cover what Fergie from the Black eyed Peas calls, “their lovely lady lumps in the back and in the front.”
Additionally, in the same year, the Moral Vice Squad handed out warnings and delinquent notices to 3.6 million more Iranians women and girls who are failing to follow the traditional Isalmic dress code that has withstood the test of time.
The Islamic religious police has had a contentious relationship with the civil police forces; some incidents where the Islamic religious police has been involved were widely viewed as overstepping their mandate and have received broad public condemnation in the country.
Regarding the disbanding of the guidance patrol, the Iranian state media denied its dissolution. It was reported that enforcement of the mandatory hijab and the guidance patrol had intensified, particularly in religious cities (APA).