In an ongoing crackdown on women's rights, Iran has established a new mental health facility in Tehran, the Clinic for Quitting Hijab Removal, aimed at "treating" women and girls who resist wearing the hijab.
Headed by Mehri Talebi Darestani, the clinic claims to offer "scientific and psychological treatment" to encourage "dignity, modesty, chastity, and hijab," specifically targeting young women seeking social and religious identity, The Telegraph reported.
Darestani insists attendance is "optional," though the clinic falls under the purview of Iran's Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil, a government body known for enforcing strict Islamic dress codes.
The facility follows heightened suppression tactics, including covert surveillance, increased morality police, and bans on unveiled women in public spaces.
The new center also reflects continued backlash against the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, which gained global traction after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody for not wearing her hijab properly. Since then, many women have faced severe consequences, including forced psychiatric evaluations and travel bans.
Just last week, a viral video captured the protest of an Iranian student who stripped down to her underwear on campus following a violent encounter with Iran's Basij force over demands that women wear the hijab. She was promptly arrested, declared mentally ill and detained in a psychiatric facility, according to the Telegraph.
International human rights organizations have decried these measures, with the UN labeling the repression as "gender apartheid." Amnesty International's Diana Eltahawy criticized Iran's tactics, which she says "terrorize women and girls" through surveillance and policing, causing "immense mental distress."
Meanwhile, four Iranian psychiatric associations condemned the government's use of mental health diagnoses as punishment, stressing that such diagnoses should be made by medical professionals, not government officials.
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