Iran Charges Women With “Inciting Prostitution” For Removing Their Hijabs in Protests

We have previously discussed the unparalleled bravery of the women fighting discriminatory Islamic law requiring them to wear veils and limiting their freedoms due to their gender.  This is particularly true of the women engaged in protests over compulsory headscarves in Iran.  Now however the Islamic regime is cracking down and not just arresting women but charging them with “inciting prostitution.”  It is the perfect sexist charge to go with deeply sexist legal system. A woman who asserts her most basic right to expression and religious choices is treated by the Islamic government as fostering prostitutes.

According to Amnesty International, almost three dozen women have been arrested by the regime which is afraid that other women might start to question this and other laws.  Many women joined the protest after Vida Movahed, 31, took off her hijab in public  in Tehran in December.

One of those arrested is Shaparak Shajarizadeh, who will stand trial for inciting corruption and prostitution.  Narges Hosseini  faces the same charges and has already been held for over a month . . . for taking off her hijab.

These women could face ten years in prison.

As with Islamic laws in other countries like Saudi Arabia, the government does not rely on free choice to advance its religion but the threat of criminal prosecution.

Iranian police are reportedly on the look out for “bad hijab” violations, including tens of thousands of violations in cars for allowing scarves to fall off or pull back.

These women are fighting one of the most brutal and oppressive regimes in the world. Yet, these protests have clearly unnerved the clerics who are trying to restore terror to enforce faith.