The tough legislation on the “culture of chastity and hijab” adopted in Iran in December, which imposes harsh penalties, including up to 15 years in prison and even the death penalty, has rightly been upsetting the public. As the legislation is expected to come into force in the coming days, one would have expected a loud protest from our Foreign Minister, Tanja Fajon, who is supposed to be leading a feminist foreign policy. However, this is not the case, and neither the 8th of March Institute (Inštitut 8. marec) nor the feminist association “ONA VE” (She Knows) are protesting.
In Iran, toughened legislation imposes severe penalties on all those who “encourage nudity, indecency, removal of headscarves or dressing inappropriately”. In addition to financial penalties, “flogging and imprisonment from 5 to 15 years for repeated offences” are also listed as consequences, according to the MMC web portal.
For those who would “encourage or spread indecency, removal of headscarves or dressing inappropriately to foreign entities, including international media and civil society organisations”, Article 37 of the said law provides for imprisonment of up to ten years. The law also provides for a financial penalty of up to 15,000 euros. It provides for the death penalty for those who, on the basis of their actions, could be condemned to “corruption on earth”.
Amnesty International has been particularly critical of the tightening legislation, warning that women and girls could be sentenced to death if they send videos abroad showing them removing their headscarves. They could also face the death penalty if they “engage in other forms of peaceful activism”. It is also possible that those who try to prevent women from being harassed and arrested could be punished. Such a person could face financial penalties or imprisonment. All taxi drivers, the media, businesses and educational establishments also face the risk of being fined if they fail to “report people who are found to be breaking the law or who are found to be promoting nudity and dressing inappropriately”.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian opposed the law in his election campaign, so people rightly expect him not to sign it, but in reality, this is unlikely. Activists, Iranian journalists, clerics and human rights lawyers are more than outraged by the legislation, as it will “legitimise the increasing restrictions on women in Iran”. However, Slovenian feminists, for reasons unknown, are unable to voice their opposition. On the one hand, this is not surprising, because we have already seen for ourselves how certain Slovenian feminists imagine feminism. Among them is also the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, who is a representative of the Slovenian feminist association ONA VE (She Knows), and who apparently had no problems with putting on a hijab during her visit to Somalia, even though it is considered a symbol of the patriarchal society in feminist circles.
A. H.
