What Will Really Go Down At Iran's New Hijab Removal Treatment Clinic?

The Iranian state has announced plans to open a clinic aimed at treating women who defy the mandatory hijab laws that require women to cover their heads in public. According to a report by The Guardian on Thursday, the establishment of a “hijab removal treatment clinic” was revealed by Mehri Talebi Darestani, head of the Women and Family Department at the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Darestani stated that the clinic would provide “scientific and psychological treatment for hijab removal.”

Hijab Removal Treatment Clinic

"The establishment of this center will be for the scientific and psychological treatment of removing the hijab, specifically for the teenage generation, young adults, and women seeking social and Islamic identity and visiting this center is optional," a report by Iran International quoted Talebi.

The project is also focused on promoting “dignity, modesty, chastity, and hijab”. She, however, said that it would be up to women to visit the clinic.

Iranian human rights lawyer Hossein Raeesi stated that the concept of a clinic for treating women who do not adhere to hijab laws is “neither Islamic nor consistent with Iranian law.”

Background

The announcement came weeks after a university student, who stripped down to her underwear on a Tehran campus in an apparent protest at harsh treatment by dress code enforcers, was detained and sent to a psychiatric hospital for mental health treatment.

The news of the new clinic has spread among the "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi" or the "Woman, Life, Freedom" group. In 2022, Mahsa Amini was taken into custody for not wearing a hijab properly and later died in police custody. 

In February 2023, twenty independent Iranian trade unions, feminist groups and student organizations issued a 12-point manifesto. It articulated and elaborated on the meaning of the slogan "woman, life, freedom", seeking an end to oppression, discrimination, tyranny, and dictatorship.