Men in Iran don hijabs in solidarity with their wives, female relatives who are forced to cover

Irani law makes it compulsory for women to hide their hair

Men in Iran have started wearing hijabs in solidarity with women across the country who are forced to cover their heads in public.

According to the Independent, wearing a headscarf is strictly enforced by the so-called 'morality police' in the country and has remained a part of the law since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Those who do not abide by the laws are subjected to punishments ranging from fines to imprisonment.

Not only that, there are state-funded advertisements on billboards in Iran in support of law, presenting those who do not cover their hair as spoiled and 'dishonourable.' Women are also told that by not complying, they are putting themselves at a risk of unwanted sexual advances from men.



But now, a number of men have begun posting photos of themselves wearing hijabs with their wives or female relative standing next to them bare-headed, in an attempt to protest against the law.

The protest spurred across social media after Masih Alinejad, an Iranian activist and journalist living in New York, urged men to support her campaign against enforced hijab.

Alinejad runs the My Stealthy Freedom campaign on social media and often shares pictures of women living in Iran who have enjoyed a moment of 'stealthy freedom' by taking their hijab off outside of a domestic setting.



She requested all men to support her in #meninhijab by sharing the afore-mentioned pictures on July 22. The journalist has since received 30 images and said that some men are also posting their images on their Instagram accounts.

“Most of these are living inside Iran and they have witnessed how their female relatives have been suffering at the hands of the morality police and humiliation of enforced hijab," said Alinejad. “For years, from childhood to womanhood, we’ve been forced to wear the compulsory headscarf and for years, we have had to endure the loss of our dignity. Many men have gotten used to seeing women in compulsory hijab every day and you think that is normal. But for millions of Iranian women, this is an insult to their dignity."

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She continued, “In our society, a woman’s existence and identity is justified by a man’s integrity, and in many cases, the teachings of a religious authority or government officials influence a man’s misguided sense of ownership over women. So I thought it would be fantastic to invite men to support women's rights.”

Following the campaign, a man described how wearing his mother's niqaab reminded him of the freedom he was afforded as a man but she was denied until her death. “When the Islamic Revolution took place, my mother started wearing hijab because it was compulsory. She never believed in hijab," he said. "In Khuzestan’s hot summers, she was forced to go out in this attire. My mother died and only her clothes are left for me as a keepsake. I sometimes put them on and remember those hot summer days when she would go out shopping and returned with no energy to speak even, due to the heat."



He concluded, “I was always ashamed for my mother and sisters. I was against hijab and my father and brothers also felt the same way. It’s very tough to go out in such clothing in the hot weather of Ahvaz - it’s indescribable."

Several others have come out with similar stories in an attempt to peacefully protest against the law.

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