‘Gender apartheid’: UN experts denounce Iran’s proposed hijab law
CNN, September 1, 2023
A new draft law that would enshrine harsh punishments for women and girls who fail to wear a hijab in Iran could amount to “gender apartheid,” UN experts said in a statement on Friday.
“The draft law could be described as a form of gender apartheid, as authorities appear to be governing through systemic discrimination with the intention of suppressing women and girls into total submission,” the experts said.
The proposed legislation, which is currently under review by the Iranian parliament, would establish harsh penalties for women who refuse to wear the veil – including long jail sentences.
The 70-article draft law also proposes stiff new penalties for celebrities and businesses who flout the rules and the use of artificial intelligence to identify women in breach of the dress code.
The UN experts argue that both the new law and existing restrictions “are inherently discriminatory and may amount to gender persecution.”
“The weaponisation of ‘public morals’ to deny women and girls their freedom of expression is deeply disempowering and will entrench and expand gender discrimination and marginalisation, with wider negative consequences for children and society as a whole,” the experts said.
The draft law came under review by Iranian authorities just weeks ahead of the one-year anniversary of the mass protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being stopped by Iran’s morality police in Tehran.
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