‘I’ll Dress How I Want’: Iranian Women Defy Hijab Crackdown Despite Rising Repression

In recent weeks, photos and videos of unveiled women and girls across Iran have appeared on social media, giving the impression that authorities have eased enforcement of the country’s compulsory hijab laws. But new research from the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) shows the opposite: the government is tightening control, shifting from visible street patrols to less visible methods of enforcement—closing businesses, expanding digital surveillance, and dispatching undercover agents to punish women and girls who defy the law and those who allow them to do so.

CHRI has documented the closure of at least 50 cafés, restaurants, and shops between late June and early October for serving unveiled women or hosting mixed-gender gatherings. Most of these closures occurred outside Tehran—in provincial towns such as Kashan, Borujerd, and Qom—where authorities face less scrutiny and local businesses are more vulnerable.

The report outlines an increase in digital policing. Cameras now watch street corners and shop counters. Data from phones and business security systems feed into state monitoring centers. Some women report receiving text-message warnings from the government’s “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” headquarters, threatening fines or prosecution for being unveiled.

The law also extends to businesses, which can be shut down or prosecuted for simply allowing unveiled women on their premises. 

Recently, in the city of Fasa, two teenage girls were arrested following a confrontation with a woman who demanded they wear the hijab outside a café. A bystander captured the exchange, and the video quickly spread online. Within days, the girls were arrested, charged, and taken to the Shiraz Juvenile Correctional Center. The café was shuttered, the person who filmed the video was detained, and officials announced that others present at the scene were under investigation.

The debate over the compulsory hijab resurfaced recently after a senior conservative politician briefly questioned its legal basis. Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a longtime regime insider, said the law was “no longer legally enforceable” following its quiet suspension earlier this year—remarks that sparked outrage among hardliners and were swiftly retracted. Last week, Iran’s judiciary reaffirmed that hijab laws remain in full effect.

Yet despite the official line, the reality on Iran’s streets tells a different story. Women are increasingly seen walking unveiled through markets, on university campuses, and in cafés — hair uncovered, unfazed by the risks.

A young woman in Tehran, who spoke to More to Her Story on condition of anonymity, said she has been turned away from cafés for refusing to wear the hijab but refuses to be intimidated.

“The pressure is so much that some cafes and restaurants have fired all the female employees, even the ones in the kitchen that nobody can see. Some places have hired people just to enforce the hijab. They’ll kick you out if you aren’t wearing it — but I don’t care. I’ll dress how I want just to show that I don’t obey the government.” 

Another woman in Tehran told More to Her Story that she has noticed a visible rise in the number of women choosing to defy the law.

“In the past two months, the [number] of women without a veil has increased. Women have become braver. If [the authorities] want to intensify the crackdown, it’s a lost cause because they have done it so many times, and they know it’s not going to work. It’s so silly to do something over and over again when you know you won’t achieve anything. How can you fight half the society? I’m not saying 80% of Iranian women go unveiled, but I can tell you it’s around 30–35%, and it’s increasing every day. The [authorities] say they want to intensify the crackdown on women, but right now we’re in the streets without veils, wearing our beautiful clothes. They can’t take that away from us.”