Surveillance cameras and a public attack: What's happening to women in Iran right now.

Cameras are being installed in public places in Iran to watch women as part of an intensifying campaign to crack down on dress codes. 

As protests continue throughout the country and women continue to defy the mandatory dress code, Iranian police are installing cameras to identify and penalise women who don't cover their hair.  

Those who are caught unveiled will receive a "warning text messages as to the consequences", police said in a statement. 

The move is aimed at "preventing resistance against the hijab law", with the statement adding that such resistance tarnishes the country's spiritual image and spreads insecurity. 

Police also called on owners of businesses to "seriously monitor the observance of societal norms with their diligent inspections".

Iranian women walk next to a CCTV camera installed in a street in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. Image: AAP.

Why are women ditching their hijabs? 

In Iran, women have been required to wear the hijab in public since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Those who don't follow the dress code have faced public rebuke, fines, or arrest.

In a statement last month, Iran's Interior Ministry described the veil as "one of the civilisational foundations of the Iranian nation" and urged citizens to confront unveiled women. 

Despite this, a growing number of women have been ditching their hijabs and taking part in anti-government protests since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. 

Amini died in the custody of the morality police last September after she was detained for allegedly wearing a hijab "improperly".

In the seven months since, videos of unveiled women resisting the morality police, burning their headscarves and cutting their hair have flooded social media. 

After years of campaigning against forced hijab, now Iranian women revolution is gaining momentum.

Across Iran women remove their hijab & burn their headscarves in public.
Compulsory hijab is the main pillar of a gender apartheid regime.#Mahsa_Amini is a symbol of resistance. pic.twitter.com/3YHq7sZheZ

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 20, 2022

Women are also widely seen without veils in malls, restaurants, shops and streets around the country, while schoolgirls have been seen removing their headscarves in classrooms. 

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Arrests and a public attack.

Last week, a video went viral of a mother and daughter being attacked with yoghurt after they walked into a store in the northeastern city of Shandiz without hijabs.

In the video, published by state-run media Mizan News Agency, a man approached one of the unveiled women and spoke to her before grabbing a tub of yogurt from the store and throwing it on both women's heads. 

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi later stepped out on live TV and said wearing a hijab is the law, after the video was posted online. 

"The important matter is that today we have a legal mandate," he said, according to Reuters. 

"If there are people who say that they do not share this belief of ours [the mandatory hijab], then this is a place for scientific and cultural centres as well as schools to discuss this and convince them."

"It’s good to use persuasion," he added. 

Two unveiled women have been arrested after a man repeatedly threw yoghurt at them for having their hair uncovered in Iran.

The man approached the two women in line at a convenience store before he angrily hurled the yoghurt over their heads. pic.twitter.com/T36R86ntIS

— 10 News First (@10NewsFirst) April 2, 2023

The incident comes after a group of five young women were arrested and forced to apologise after filming a video of themselves dancing without hijabs last month. 

The group shared the video, which went viral on TikTok, of themselves dancing to Selena Gomez and Rema’s song 'Calm Down' to celebrate International Women’s Day. Just like appearing with uncovered hair, women are not allowed to dance in public in Iran. 

According to local news outlets the women were later arrested and detained for two days, and forced to record an apology video wearing hijabs, SBS reports.  

Selena Gomez later praised the women on Instagram, writing, "[Love] to these young women and all the women of Iran who continue to be courageous, demanding fundamental changes. Please know your strength is inspiring."

This video of Iranian girls in Tehran’s Ekbatan neighborhood dancing unveiled to the song Calm Down by Rema and Selena Gomez has gone viral.
Women are banned from dancing in public in Iran. pic.twitter.com/2hSsY4KFEg

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) March 9, 2023

However, women aren't just risking being arrested or fined for not wearing a hijab. 

Iranian state TV has reported hijab enforcement groups are going to be set up on metro trains in the capital city of Tehran. 

Women who are seen without the hijab will be refused entry, effectively preventing some from travelling to work. 

Outside of refusing to wear hijabs, thousands of people have been arrested in anti-government protests across the country. According to the BBC, four men have also been executed in connection with the protests since December.  

Read more on this topic: 

• 'An unforgivable crime.' In the last 3 months, hundreds of schoolgirls have reportedly been poisoned in Iran.
• The women of Iran are furious.
• In Iran, young girls are forced to marry prison guards. Then executed the next day.

- With AAP.

Feature Image: AAP/10 News First/Mamamia.