BY MONELLI Hadaegh
Sept. 16, 2022 marked the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, a Kurdish-Iranian woman killed by the morality police. This resurged the ongoing Women Life Freedom movement in Iran, sparking conversation on the struggles faced by countless women enduring discrimination at the hands of the Iranian regime.
The morality police is a law enforcement agency that enforces Islamic dress codes and behavior and has recently come under fire for how they treat Iranian women based on their compliance.
Sanaz, whose last name will not be used for identity protection, is an Iranian woman currently residing in the country’s capital, Tehran. She has first-hand experience with the morality police and has witnessed the differences in Iran’s society regarding the compulsory dress code.
In the summer of 2009, Presidential candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won his second term in Iran, strengthening the powers of the morality police, which he established during his 2005 presidency. Around this time, Sanaz had her first encounter with the morality police.
“I was going to my English class,” Sanaz said. “I had my books in my hands and was carrying my backpack as I exited my car to walk across the street. Suddenly, a morality police van swerved before me, and a man stepped out, telling me to get into the van. I obeyed.”
The van took her to the police station, where she was placed in a room with another group of women whose mugshots had been taken.
“I was arrested due to my manteau,” she said, referencing the loose gown or cloak women wear to cover their bodies. “They told me it was too short, which was why they arrested me. They were taking our mugshots like we were criminals.”
It is obligatory for Iranian women who have been arrested to cut their old clothes so they will not wear them again. Then, a family or friend must bring baggier clothes that best fit the perception of the Iranian regime.
Sanaz removed her clothes, locked eyes with the morality police, and tore her clothing in front of them before crossing the room and sitting down as an act of protest against the regime.
The detention center held her for a few hours until her aunt arrived with clothing that met the police’s approval.
Sanaz’s encounter with the morality police left a frightening mark on her.
“For the next year, I would carry an extra long manteau to wear whenever I passed by the morality police,” she said.
The most significant consequence was fear. This took a mental toll on Iranian women as they knew the Iranian regime controlled them and they had no voice in the situation.
The uproar of Mahsa Amini’s death sparked a new wave of the women’s rights movement in Iran; it created a new shift in how Iranian women viewed freedom. They would take to the streets without a hijab, shorter and tighter manteaus, and take charge with a more hopeful outlook.
“After Mahsa Amini, things didn’t go back to ‘normal,’” Sanaz said. “Although women became more ‘rebellious’ with their clothing, they assumed there would be a systematic change in the regime.”
Hope for Iranian women has grown since they changed their behavior toward the compulsory dress codes. However, many still face discouragement as they thought this would finally free them from the regime.
Women fearlessly take to the streets, breaking barriers and fighting for more autonomy, but with all this, the Iranian regime still enforces the compulsory dress codes. No systematic change has taken place for the regime to loosen its force on the requirements of attire.
Sanaz expressed that the idea of freedom has been strengthened since Mahsa Amini’s death, and women’s freedom has become greater.
This freedom is not from the perception of the law, but of the people. Spiritually, freedom has increased as it has induced strength in Iranian women, she says.
“With all this, though, sadness has grown in the people as we expected more. Freedom has increased, but so has our desperation,” Sanaz said.