Where Iranians Stand on Hijab Rules

On September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after having been taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf incorrectly. While the authorities state Amini died from illness, her parents and protesters say the police were responsible. Amini’s death ignited an uprising across the country, led mainly by women and young people, against injustice, the subjugation of women and police brutality, with hundreds reported to have been killed and thousands arrested in the ensuing months.

It’s two years on, and seven in ten Iranians continue to oppose the government’s imposition of strict penalties such as fines or imprisonment for women who do not wear their hijab in public. Stasis Consulting, a U.S. based opinion research firm, spoke to more than 1,200 adults living in Iran about where they stand on the topic. They found that where 47 percent said they completely disagreed with the way the morality police deal with women who do not comply with compulsory hijab, eight percent say they somewhat disagreed and 37 percent said they agreed at least somewhat. Fifty-five percent of respondents thought wearing a hijab should be optional and 43 percent thought it should not.