Iran forces female students to attend hijab ‘counseling’ after months of women’s rights protests

Dozens of female students in Iran have been summoned to attend “mandatory counseling sessions” for failing to wear the hijab “properly” after months of women’s rights and anti-regime protests across the country, reports said on Monday.

Although mass protests have largely slowed down, some displays of resistance persist, particularly among students and at universities where authorities are now cracking down and asking university officials to take action.

A message sent by Shiraz University, located in southwestern Iran, to students informed them that “removing the hijab and not wearing proper student clothing” was a “violation” and urged the Union Council of Iranian Students to report any violations, Radio reported Free Europe.

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Those found to be breaking the rules set out under the strict Iranian regime will then be required to attend counselling.

Similar messages have reportedly been sent from universities across the county, including at Tehran’s Soore University, where female students have been informed via text message that they are required to take a “mandatory cultural camp”.

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Universities have also begun to fire professors found to be helping or participating in student protests demanding women’s rights.

The protest movement started around five months ago after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, was arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran for improperly wearing the hijab.

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Amini was severely beaten before succumbing to her injuries on 16 September 2022.

The story of her arrest and death was not only broken by two female journalists who remain in an Iranian prison, according to a Politico report, but it started a national movement that saw some 19,600 arrests and more than 520 deaths.

Women in Iran have long been held under repressive measures that not only dictate how they can travel on a daily basis and prevent them from dancing in public or attending sports matches, but also enforce restrictions on their daily attire by requiring them to wear loose clothing and hair covered at all times in public.

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To protest Amini’s death, Iranian women have removed and burned their hijabs – an act that could lead to prison terms if caught.

By the end of January, at least 700 university students had been arrested, according to the activist HRANA news agency, and many have faced sentences of imprisonment, flogging and expulsion from school.