Iran's New 'Chastity' Law Explained

By Maya Mehrara

Iran's parliament has passed a new chastity law to be implemented next week, further tightening already strict dressing restrictions, according to reports.

The 74-article piece of legislation is set to take effect on December 13 and imposes penalties, primarily fines, for those who do not adhere to the country's existing dress code, according to Iran Wire.

The new chastity bill comes in the wake of previously passed stringent dressing requirements that inspired protests in 2022 that have continued to this day.

Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran for comment via email outside of business hours.

The new law, passed December 1 by Iran's parliament, was approved by the Guardian Council, which assesses laws for their compliance with the Iranian constitution and Islamic law, and ultimately reports to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to CNN.

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has voiced his discontent with the new law, but has little action he could take to prevent its implementation, according to the report.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Pezeshkian wrote, "In my opinion, the hijab law, which I have to implement, is very ambiguous. We should not do anything to disturb the consensus and empathy of the society. We have to talk and interact about this issue."

The new law, which will be implemented on a three-year trial basis, will punish both men and women for dressing improperly.

Titled the "Protection of the Family through Promoting the Culture of Hijab and Chastity" law, a draft of the law submitted by the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to parliament in May of 2023, after which amendments were approved by parliament in September that year according to the Human Rights Watch.

The new bill defines improper dress as "clothing that exposes areas below the neck, above the ankles, or above the wrists, or clothing that 'tempts' others," according to Iran Wire. It also stipulates that women cannot wear tight clothing, and men cannot expose anything below the shoulders and chest or above the knees.

The new law encourages citizens to report others who break the dress code to police.

If individuals break Iran's dress rules, in accordance with the new chastity bill, they will have to pay a range of escalating fines under article 49, according to Iran Wire. For initial offenses, fines range from 20 million ($285) to 80 million ($1,140) tomans, while later violations incur fines between 80 million and 165 million ($2,350) tomans.

For individuals who are unable to pay the fines, alternative punishments could include impeding passport renewal, vehicle registration, obtaining country exit permits, or the ability to acquire or renew driver's licenses. Punishment also could include not releasing impounded vehicles.

Some more severe punishments include possible prison sentences for multiple violations.

The law also applies to digital spaces, according to Human Rights Watch, and individuals promoting violating dress rules or mocking the fines could face punishment, and social media platforms will be required to monitor or remove such content. Influencers or public figures with followings online will face harsher penalties.

Under article 36, if an individual promotes nudity or immodesty in collaboration with foreign entities, they could face a prison sentence of five to 10 years in prison.

Those who are deemed to be "nude" would be immediately detained under the new law. This portion of the law follows a recent instance where an Iranian woman, Ahoo Daryei, removed her clothing in an anti-hijab protest at a university in Tehran and was subsequently arrested by Iranian authorities and taken to a hospital, according to BBC News.

The new law not only could punish individuals, but also businesses that promote attire considered to be inappropriate, with owners facing fines of up to Grade 3, or the payment of two months' business profit; Grade 2, or four months' business profit; or a Grade 5 imprisonment sentence for a third offense that could be coupled with travel bans and advertising restrictions.

The new bill also includes a surveillance provision in which footage from various government ministries including the Ministry of Intelligence and the Ministry of Defense, as well as traffic monitoring cameras, will be used to identify individuals who broke the law and punish them accordingly.

After the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was arrested by Iran's morality police after allegedly violating hijab rules in 2022, nationwide protests broke out in protest of the government's treatment of women and pushing for women's rights.

This led to the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement with protests for women's rights in Iran and cities all over the world over the last two years.

Since the beginning of the movement, Iranian authorities have increased the number of executions they have conducted, and the number of individuals executed by the government reached its highest point in eight years in 2023, according to Amnesty International.