Iranian Women Stand Up to Men Telling Them to Put On Their Hijabs

Women in Iran are increasingly standing up to men who demand they put on their hijabs — and are saying no, as they walk down the public streets, and film themselves saying no.

It’s really quite astonishing.

Women have been filming themselves doing this for some time in order to draw attention to what they say is the abuse of Islamic men.

The Daily Mail has more:

Women filmed themselves without veils to capture some of the abuse they face for failing to adhere to Iran’s strict religious rules.

At one point a female campaigner shouts ‘spit out your insults’ after being told to cover her head while a second film shows a man threatening to slap a young woman for breaking the law.

Another video shows a father standing up for her daughter after a passer-by ordered her to ‘observe hijab’. The father stands his ground and tells the man ‘I don’t believe that nonsense’.

The veil has been a mandatory dress requirement for women in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

But a movement called White Wednesdays sees women flouting the regulations by capturing footage and pictures of themselves without their hijabs and posting it online. Some of the clips have appeared on the Twitter account My Stealthy Freedom.

One clip says: ‘I have no fear of you, my camera is my weapon here! This brave woman [is] unveiling herself to protest compulsory hijab while walking her dog.

‘Watch how she got attacked by people about hijab and walking a dog. She is strong and filmed it all for #WhiteWednesdays.’

Another video shows a man storming over to a woman and saying: ‘I’m going to slap you if you don’t wear your hijab.’

When the woman asks what he is going to do, he simply replies: ‘Put on your head dress.’

A passer-by then walks over and tells the man: ‘You can warn her calmly right? You can’t slap a woman.’

One touching video shows a father driving with his young daughter in the passenger seat and talking about her future.

He tells the camera: ‘My inspiration for joining the campaign and to oppose compulsory hijab even before that, has been the future of my daughter.

‘I want her to be able to freely make her decisions under the best of conditions. Long live White Wednesdays.’

In one video, a defiant campaigner insists women are ‘not puppets’.

She says: ‘Keep the desire for dignity, freedom, love and hope for all Iranian women. Iranian women deserve the best! Iranian women are not your puppets to do whatever you wish with them; to forcefully bully them, kick them out of stadiums, or forcibly make them wear hijab.”