As more Iranian women reject hijab rules, regime looks at new ways to force compliance

Women appearing in public without wearing a hijab has become an increasingly common sight across Iran, marking one of the most visible social changes since the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests, which were sparked after a woman died in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly.

Authorities have been unable to restore the level of street enforcement that existed before the protests. But the relative retreat of so-called "morality police" patrols does not mean the compulsory hijab has disappeared.

Now, authorities and conservative groups are experimenting with different ways to resist that change without necessarily recreating the same street confrontations that helped fuel the 2022 protests.

Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei recently called for action against what he described as social "abnormalities," "indecency" and "nudity," urging prosecutors to coordinate with police, intelligence bodies and government institutions.

At the same time, supporters of hijab mandates have circulated online campaigns encouraging people to avoid businesses run by women who do not follow the state dress code and instead patronize women who do.

The result is a more fragmented form of enforcement, moving in some cases from police patrols toward workplaces, businesses and access to everyday services.

Iran's regime turns to social pressure

The online campaigns call for what supporters describe as "conscious purchasing," encouraging consumers to support hijab-observing vendors.

A female lawyer in Tehran told DW that such campaigns risk deepening social divisions rather than encouraging adherence to a social norm.

"This is a deliberate attempt to categorize people by identity and put them against one another," she said under condition of anonymity for safety concerns.

She argues that encouraging economic pressure against people solely because of their appearance goes beyond an individual's right to choose where to shop.

"When economic sanctions are imposed on them [the regime], they call it pressure, injustice and economic warfare," she said. "But when they use the same logic domestically to force part of society to change its behavior, it becomes 'support for values.'"

She also questioned the assumption that women who conform to one particular dress code uniquely represent Iranian social values.

"The reality of Iranian society is much more complex than that," she said.

Accounts posted by Iranian women suggest that dress-code enforcement can also appear in everyday services, with some women reporting on social media being denied access to clinics and banks for not wearing a headscarf.

When women's bodies become political

Shirin Shams is an exiled Iranian political activist and director of the Women's Revolution Organization, which advocates for secularism, women's liberation, and human rights in Iran.

She told DW the recent campaigns targeting women who ditch the compulsory hijab are an attempt to revive social divisions that were weakened during the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement.

"The Islamic Republic has tried for years to divide women according to their clothing," the Germany-based activist said.

She describes the compulsory hijab as one of the Iranian state's most important ideological lines and argues that the widespread presence of women without headscarves shows how far social reality has moved beyond official expectations.

The renewed campaigns, in her view, are about more than clothing, representing an effort to reconstruct a boundary between women who comply and those who do not.

Saeed Paivandi, a professor at the University of Lorraine in France, says the conflict reflects a broader struggle over social control.

He told DW that Iranian authorities have spent years creating distinctions between women considered properly veiled and those officially labeled "badly veiled" or "unveiled."

"The government is once again turning women's bodies into a social, moral and even security issue," Peyvandi said.

A woman without a headscarf is not interpreted merely as someone making an individual choice, he said. For parts of the political establishment, she can also represent a visible challenge to an ideological order.

Iran's hardliners vs. modern reality

While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has repeatedly spoken about social cohesion and national unity, conservative Islamist judicial and political figures continue to demand tougher enforcement of dress regulations.

This produces an uneasy balance and exposes differences within Iran's political establishment.

Parts of the establishment appear aware that a return to large-scale confrontations between police and women could carry significant social and political costs. Others are unwilling to accept the normalization of women appearing in public without wearing a hijab.

The result is neither the old system of comprehensive street enforcement nor an end to compulsory dress rules.

Instead, pressure can appear intermittently through courts, workplaces, businesses, administrative procedures and social campaigns.

Enforcement without the 'morality police'

Paivandi believes direct coercion has reached its limits and that supporters of Islamic dress codes are looking for alternative ways to enforce conformity.

That could shift part of the burden from state institutions to society itself.

A bank employee, clinic receptionist, employer, shopkeeper or customer can become involved in enforcing standards even without a police officer being present.

This makes the boundary between law, personal discretion and ideological pressure increasingly unclear.

Peyvandi also warns that linking religion to humiliation, exclusion and coercion could further alienate younger Iranians from religious institutions.

Women who choose to wear a hijab may also be drawn into a confrontation they did not choose, he said, if their clothing is presented as a marker of political loyalty.