Iran's 'gender apartheid' bill could jail women for 10 years for not wearing hijab

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/sep/13/irans-gender-apartheid-bill-could-jail-women-for-10-years-for-not-wearing-hijab

Iran’s ‘gender apartheid’ bill could jail women for 10 years for not wearing hijab

Shops that serve unveiled women could be shut under draft law UN human rights body says suppresses women into ‘total submission’

Supported by
guardian.org

Deepa Parent
Wed 13 Sep 2023 05.00 EDT

Women in Iran face up to 10 years in prison if they continue to defy the country’s mandatory hijab law, under harsher laws awaiting approval by authorities. Even businesses that serve women without a hijab face being shut down.

The stricter dress code, which amounts to “gender apartheid”, UN experts said, comes one year after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been detained for allegedly wearing the Islamic headscarf incorrectly. Her death, after allegedly being beaten by police, led to the largest wave of popular unrest for years in Iran.

The length of prison sentences contained in the draft law was comparable to those for serious offences such as murder and drug trafficking, said an Iranian human rights lawyer, Hossein Raeesi. “That’s ridiculous to even think about.”

The hijab and chastity bill details punishments including more than 60 lashes, heavy fines and prison terms. It also warns businesses of closure and other serious consequences if found to be providing services to women with “improper dress code”.

Elnaz*, an Iranian journalist, said: “With the new law, the government is telling us women that we will go to prison for up to 10 years if we don’t wear a hijab. What next? A death penalty for defying the new hijab law?”

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(Why are we giving $6billion to Iran for 4 Americans with no demand for human rights? Something behind the scenes… no weapons to Russia… no nuclear war? Why would we trust theocracy on any deal, secret or otherwise. Please discuss/explain.)