Iran has launched a specialized mental health clinic in Tehran aimed at providing treatment to women who refuse to wear the hijab, in the latest government effort to suppress female dissent in the country. The clinic, named The Clinic for Quitting Hijab Removal, comes amid ongoing protests following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising that began in 2022.
Clinic to “Treat” Women Who Reject the Hijab
The clinic, which will be managed by Mehri Talebi Darestani, is described as a facility for the “scientific and psychological treatment” of women, particularly teenagers and young adults, who choose to remove the hijab. Talebi Darestani stated that the clinic’s goal is to help women reclaim their “social and Islamic identity” by promoting values such as “dignity, modesty, chastity, and hijab.” She also claimed that attending the clinic would be “optional.”
Government Oversight and Controversy
The new clinic will be operated under the supervision of Iran’s Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil, a government body tasked with enforcing strict Islamic codes across Iranian society. This department, notorious for its heavy-handed enforcement of dress codes, has been sanctioned by the UK and other countries for its human rights violations, including its harsh treatment of women who defy Iran’s conservative dress laws.The Headquarters for Enjoining the Good is led by Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, a figure directly appointed by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Government Response to Public Protests
This initiative is part of Iran’s broader crackdown on women’s rights protests, which have intensified since the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Amini’s death while in police custody sparked the nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, with many women actively resisting the mandatory hijab law.
Earlier this month, a university student from the Islamic Azad University in Tehran protested the hijab mandate by stripping to her underwear. The woman was subsequently labeled as “mentally ill” and forcibly admitted to a psychiatric facility, drawing further criticism of the government’s treatment of women who resist oppressive policies.
This clinic represents a new, controversial effort by the Iranian authorities to address the growing resistance to the hijab, while also reinforcing the regime’s rigid enforcement of Islamic dress codes.
