Amnesty Labels Iran's Hijab Enforcement ‘War on Women’

Amnesty International has branded Iran's brutal hijab crackdown as a "War on Women" in the wake of the recent Noor plan which has seen security forces violently arresting unveiled women.

The human rights organization reported that since April 13 when the new hijab crackdowns began, Iranian security forces have escalated their tactics engaging in "surveillance, beatings, sexual violence, electric shocks, arbitrary arrests, and detention."

Amnesty has called on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to halt the punishment of women and girls for asserting their rights to bodily autonomy and freedom of expression, religion, and belief. The organization urges the immediate repeal of all compulsory hijab laws and regulations and demands the disbandment of all security forces assigned to enforce these laws.

Conditions have deteriorated rapidly under the newly intensified Noor (light) plan launched last month in a bid to crack down on hijab defiance. Sparked by the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini, conditions for women have worsened exponentially as women have rebelled against the Islamic dress code as a means of fighting the regime.

The call for action follows claims by UN human rights experts in September about potential laws promoting hijab compliance as a form of "gender apartheid."

In March, the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran outlined the arbitrary nature of punishments related to mandatory hijab laws, which they said violate international human rights law.

Reports of violent encounters between law enforcement, including plainclothes officers and women opposing mandatory hijab have surged following the implementation of the Noor plan. The morality police, particularly active in Tehran's central districts, have intensified their presence, marking a return to strict oversight after their being scaled back following the death of 22-year-old Amini.