Amnesty International has released reports of the Iranian morality police using floggings, fines, and car confiscations to punish tens of thousands of women for removing their headscarves.

The police continue to enforce strict Islamic dress codes almost eighteen months after protests against the death of Mahsa Amin began. She died in detainment in September 2022 after being arrested for removing her hijab.

Some dissenters have suffered prison terms or been forced to attend ‘morality classes’. One woman said she was flogged in a room where a judge was present.

Iran has conservative legal and cultural norms that emphasise modesty and adherence to Islamic principles, including the mandatory wearing of the hijab for women in public spaces. This fosters a culture in which members of the public inform on their fellow citizens.

Women have been legally required to cover their heads in public since the 1979 Islamic revolution. But in the tumult following Amini’s death, protesters chanting “Woman, Life, Freedom” mounted the most sustained challenge to Iran’s clerical regime in years.

The government have since introduced a “Bill to Support the Culture of Chastity and Hijab” that intends to significantly increase the penalties for violating the law.

Although the bill is yet to be formally passed, it decrees that women or girls who don’t strictly follow the Islamic dress code could face up to ten years in jail – a steep increase from the previous term of two months.

Fines would be raised from the equivalent of about $12 to about $8,500.