Iran arrests woman who stripped to underwear to protest morality police harassed over 'improper hijab'
3 November 2024, 19:43
Iranian authorities have arrested a woman who was filmed stripping down to her underwear to protest harassment by the regime's morality police.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Amnesty International has called on Iran to release the student - who was said to have had a violent confrontation with paramilitaries.
The woman was filmed walking on the street wearing only underwear - and a second video showed her being bundled into a vehicle by plainclothes Basij forces.
The woman has only been identified as a student at Tehran's Islamic Azad University.
In Iran, a student harassed by her university’s morality police over her “improper” hijab didn’t back down. She turned her body into a protest, stripping to her underwear and marching through campus—defying a regime that constantly controls women’s bodies. Her act is a powerful… pic.twitter.com/76ekxSK7bI
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 2, 2024
A student media outlet said the woman had been accosted for not wearing a headscarf.
Under the country's regressive dress code, headscarves and loose-fitting clothes in public are mandatory.
The media outlet also alleged that she was beaten during the arrest.
Information on her condition is currently unknown.
Amnesty International wrote on social media: "Iran’s authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested after she removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials.
“Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture and other ill-treatment and ensure access to family and lawyer."
Iran’s state-run Fars news agency confirmed the incident, saying that the student had worn “inappropriate clothes” and had “stripped” after being told by security guards to comply with the dress code.
