IRAN – Social media posts from Iran indicate many women left home Tuesday without hijab in response to calls from activists to defy the government’s forced dress code.
Women’s rights and political activists had called for civil disobedience on Tuesday (July 12) with the hashtag of ‘No2Hijab’ in response to a government announcement for a day of ‘hijab rallies’ at stadiums and other venues on Tuesday “to honor, celebrate, and promote” the Islamic notion of the hijab (cover) for women.
So far it is not clear what is the extent of the defiance, but dozens of women have posted photos on social media showing they are outside without a headscarf and mostly dressed in white, instead of the dark colors the government enforces.
Another woman posted her photo without a headscarf in the street and simply tweeted, “The good feeling of freedom – NO2Hijab”. A university student posted her photo without a headscarf, saying after calsses we went into the street with hijab, walked “and we really enjoyed it.”
Another young woman tweeted that she left her gym and was riding home without a headscarf and decided not to wear a helmet, which she usually wears to avoid the hijab. She passed a ‘morality police’ van on the street that stops women for “bad hijab”, but they did not stop her.
For the past few weeks the government has increased harassment of women for their insufficient hijab and many have been detained by special police patrols. This has led to more tension amid economic hardship for 90 percent of population on fixed income, while inflation has reached 55 percent and food prices have risen by more than 80 percent, according to May-June official reports.
