Iran’s Streets Are Changing — Is the Hijab Era Ending?
In Iran, women are breaking hijab laws for freedom. In Europe, new laws are being made to restrict it, raising one big question: who decides what a woman wears?
ISH News has shared many stories about the hijab issue over the years from Iran’s protests to court rulings in India.
After Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in 2022, huge protests broke out in Iran. Women cut their hair, burned their hijabs, and shouted for freedom. Viral videos showed women being attacked for not covering their heads.
Today, Iran is witnessing a quiet change. Many women are now walking without hijabs in public on roads, in malls, in cafés. This is not because the law has changed. Mandatory hijab is still the law. But police are avoiding strict action to prevent new protests.
Recently, Iran’s Parliament passed a tougher hijab bill with heavy fines and long jail terms. However, it is not being fully enforced, as authorities fear public anger. Older Iranians say these scenes remind them of life before 1979, when women dressed freely before the Islamic Revolution. For many young women, this is their first taste of such freedom.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the situation is the opposite. Denmark has expanded its 2018 burqa and niqab ban to schools and universities, while Italy has proposed similar restrictions through new laws. Governments claim these laws promote equality, but rights groups say they unfairly target Muslim women.
So the question remains in Iran women are fighting to remove dress rules, while in Europe new ones are being made.
Who should decide what a woman wears the government, religion, or the woman herself?
