Violent atrocities against women in Iran
Violent
atrocities against women in Iran
WRITTEN BY
MUSKAN
PRASAD
3RD
YEAR B.A.LLB(HONS)
AMITY
LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA
EDITED BY
POOJITHA
POLICHETTY
4TH
YEAR BA.LLB(GEN)
DR.
AMBEDKAR GLOBAL LAW INSTITUTE, TIRUPATI
Recently a huge anti–hijab protest broke out in Iran after a woman died in police custody. The victim's name was Mahsa Amini, who was only 22-year-old and was detained by the country’s moral police on grounds that she violated the hijab rules the country has imposed on the woman. For more than 40 years women in Iran have been deprived of basic civil and human rights by the oppressive regime that openly discriminates against them.
On
September 13 according to the live report the Morality police arrested Mahsa
who was with her brother in front of the metro station in Tehran who had
alleged that she had violated for not complying with the hijab rules. They took
her from there in custody and told her brother that she was being taken to the
morality police headquarters for the so-called “ educational and orientation
class.” Little did her brother know that she would never come back and just two
hours later he discovered that his sister was been taken to the hospital. Apparently,
on the 15th of September, the Iran police information center claimed
that Mahsa had suffered a cardiac seizure while she was in custody and the next
day on September 16th Mahsa was declared dead. Just 3 days after her
death there were dozens of protests everywhere across the country women had
started to burn their scarfs many have even chopped their hair off, the women
were breaking all sorts of rules to show their discontentment towards the
government as this was not an accidental death this was a murder.
Amidst
all this, we need to understand the morality police. So, they were also known
as the guidance petrol. this particular department or branch in the police
department was established in 2005 to ensure that people comply with the dress
code as fixed by the government. They had vans with male and female officers deployed
in public areas like malls, subway stations, etc to detain those women who were
not complying with the dress code. in light of the recent case, the morality
police have rejected all the claims of beating the deceased and had informed
that the cause of her death was sudden heart failure even Iran’s Interior
minister had also stated that Ms. Amini has a previous health problem but this
claim was rejected by her family claiming that she was fit and did not have any
such health problem.
This
particular incident has sparked a huge uproar and as mentioned above many women
were seen coming on the roads and protesting against the regressive hijab rules,
several videos have surfaced on social media which has shown women burning
their hijabs. Moreover, relating to this there have been several incidents
where the police have used unlawful force against women who are not complying
with the hijab laws which has as a result drawn widespread criticism. There has
been a case where a woman was reported to have been beaten in the custody and
was taken to the hospital as she suffered internal bleeding this did not end
there she has been forced to apologize on state TV. The main fact that an
innocent woman died after being arrested based on the way of dressing in itself
gives evidence of outraging the women’s modesty. As a result of the protest,
the government has also responded violently by beating and also opening fire on
the protesters and using violent means to stop the protests it has been
reported that due to these many women have died during protesting.
Since
the protest, this is not the first time that women in Iran have not protested
the Iran women’s fight against the hijab rules had already started as early as
in the year 1979. In fact during that time shortly after Ayatollah Khomeini was
declared the official leader of the Islamic Republic, the first thing he did
was to immediately address the issue of women’s clothing thus declaring that women
shall be allowed to enter the workplace only if they strictly comply with the
compulsory hijab rules. Just after this speech, these women protested the
violation of their freedom of choice. These very protestors were brutally
attacked by the pro-revolution forces which later came to be known as morality
police. Due to this many Iranian women have lost their right to continue their
education they have been tied down or more so suppressed because of this hijab
rule. Even the United Nations has also condemned this act, the OHCHR has said
that they are very concerned about the continuous responses to the protesters
as well as the communication restriction which has affected social media and
has curtailed their freedom of speech. Ms. Shamdasani who is the spokesperson
has stated that the Iranian Government has now failed to launch an adequate
investigation into Ms. Amini’s death.
All
I would like to say is that the global leader should act on this issue because
it is about women’s freedom of choice and by their participation maybe Iran
will stop these atrocities and put restrictions on women because they have the
right to live freely in society. Plus an unbiased investigation should be
conducted into Ms. Amini’s death so that the real reason behind the cause death
of can come out and justice can be given and those behind it should be duly
punished the government should also reconsider the women’s freedom of choice.
References
Iran: UN
condemns violent crackdown against hijab protests | | 1UN News
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/09/16/woman-dies-custody-irans-morality-police
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-hijab-women-public-protests/32058230.html
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