Iranian woman’s unusual protest over religious dress code: Report

A young woman stripped to her underwear at an Iranian university on Saturday in an apparent protest against the country’s strict religious dress code, according to online videos and media reports.

A video posted on social media showed security guards at a branch of the Islamic Azad University detaining the unidentified woman.

University spokesperson Amir Mahjob said on X that “at the police station […] it was found that she was under severe mental pressure and had a mental disorder”.

But some social media users suggested the woman’s action was a deliberate protest.

“For most women, being […] in their underwear in public is one of their worst nightmares […] This is a reaction to the (authorities’) stupid insistence on the mandatory hijab,” Lei La, a user on X, said in a comment accompanying the video.

The fate of the woman was not known but the mass-circulation daily Hamshahri said on its website: “An informed source said […] the perpetrator of this act has severe mental problems and, after investigations, she will most likely be transferred to a mental hospital.”

Growing numbers of women have defied authorities by discarding their veils after nationwide protests that followed the death in September 2022 of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules.

Security forces violently put down the revolt.