Iran Opens Psychiatric Clinics to Treat Women for Refusing to Wear Hijab

Iranian women who refuse to wear hijab will be treated at a specialized psychiatric hospital in Tehran, reports Yahoo! News with reference to The Telegraph.

Photo: Anna Chaplygina | Dreamstime.com

The center, called the “Hijab Refusal Clinic,” is the Islamic Republic’s latest attempt to suppress female dissent that has engulfed the country since the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising.

Mehri Talebi Darestani, who will run the centre, said it was "designed to provide scientific and psychological treatment for the desire to remove the hijab, especially among girls, young women and women seeking social and Islamic identity."

She said the project was aimed at promoting "dignity, modesty, chastity and hijab" and said attendance would be "optional".

On the subject: Iranian activist wins Nobel Peace Prize for 'fight against women's oppression'

The clinic will be overseen by the Iranian Department of Enjoining Right and Forbidding Wrong. (An Iranian government agency responsible for enforcing Islamic moral standards and public order, including modesty codes such as dress code and public behavior. The agency is tasked with ensuring that citizens follow Islamic rules and traditions, and often plays a significant role in regulating issues of public morality. – Approx. Ed.)

The department is under sanctions by Britain and other countries for human rights abuses and harsh punishments for women who do not adhere to Iran's Islamic dress codes. It is headed by Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, who was appointed directly by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In early November, a student at Tehran's Islamic Azad University stripped down to her underwear to protest the requirement for women to wear the hijab. She was declared mentally ill and sent to a psychiatric hospital.

The anti-hijab movement gained momentum after the death in Tehran's Mahsa Amini prison in 2022: The 22-year-old woman was arrested for not wearing the hijab properly.

Since then, Tehran has continued to crack down on women through measures such as increased surveillance, an increased presence of morality police, and a ban on women without veils from public places such as shopping malls and parks.

The UN called this repression "gender apartheid."

Following the 2022 protests, celebrities who posted photos of themselves without their hijab were given court orders to visit mental health centers weekly.

Actresses such as Afsaneh Bayegan, Azadeh Samadi and Leila Bolukat were forced to provide mental health certificates. Other punishments included freezing bank accounts and travel bans.

Last year, four Iranian psychiatric associations issued a joint statement condemning the government's systemic labeling of women who do not wear the hijab as mentally ill.

“The diagnosis of mental disorders is the responsibility of a psychiatrist, not a judge, just as the diagnosis of other illnesses is the responsibility of doctors, not judges,” psychiatrists wrote in a letter to Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran’s chief justice. The letter was published by Iranian media in July.

In March, human rights group Amnesty International criticized the Iranian government for its systematic oppression of women through hijab laws.

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Director, said: "In an attempt to crush resistance to the compulsory hijab following the 'Woman for Life and Freedom' uprising, the Iranian authorities are terrorising women and girls. They subject them to constant police surveillance and control, intruding into their daily lives and causing them immense mental suffering. Their draconian methods include stopping women drivers on the road and confiscating their vehicles en masse, as well as inhumane corporal punishment and imprisonment."

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