Iranian hardliners shift hijab enforcement from police patrols to social pressure
As more Iranian women appear in public without headscarves, hard-line officials are turning to economic and workplace pressure to enforce the compulsory hijab.
Since the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests, Iranian women increasingly forgo the compulsory hijab, prompting a retreat of visible morality-police patrols. Nonetheless, the regime continues to seek ways to enforce the dress code without large-scale confrontations. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei called for coordinated action against perceived “social abnormalities," and conservative groups have organized online campaigns that promote "conscious purchasing" of hijab-observing vendors while shunning those who do not.
A Tehran-based female lawyer warned that such economic pressure pits citizens against each other and infringes on personal choice. Exiled activist Shirin Shams described the campaigns as an attempt to revive the ideological divide the protests weakened. Scholars note that the shift moves enforcement into courts, workplaces, banks and clinics, blurring the line between state authority and private coercion.
Why it matters
The story shows how Iran’s regime is using social and economic pressure to enforce gender norms, affecting everyday life and civil liberties.
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