Issue and Opposition: The Islamic or Iranian Revolution of 1979 overthrew the government of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and led to the formation of a religious government under Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini demanded strong adherence to Islamic diktats and announced that Iranian women would henceforth be wearing hijabs in public places. A pro-hijab law was passed by the Iranian parliament in March 1979. According to the initial order, women were mandated to wear hijab in government offices but it soon became mandatory everywhere. Women had joined the revolution demanding the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty and an elected government. They had not foreseen that a new government would revive stringent religious practices. There were huge outcries from Iranian women against the government’s law that made hijab-wearing mandatory in public. Iranian women campaigned against compulsory hijab through different actions.
Dilemma Action: An activist woman named Vida Movahed, stood on Tehran’s Enghelab Street (“enghelab” means “revolution” in English), her head uncovered. She did not let out any anti-government slogans but demonstrated her protest by silently waving the hijab above her head.
Outcome: Since Iranian law allowed for the arrest of women who violated the hijab law, Movahed was arrested on December 27, 2017. However, by that time, her picture had been posted and re-posted hundreds of times on social media, making the action viral. Movahed was released from prison on May 26, 2019. Under severe criticism from the international community and human rights watch groups, her sentence was reduced. Her lawyers argued that waving the hijab over her uncovered head was Movahed’s expression of celebration and did not indicate a conspiracy against the state. Her counsel further argued that Movahed did not plan to attract the attention of the international media through her action and emphasized that she was a young mother. Movahed’s dilemma action drew a lot of international attention but it could not bring any change to the hijab law. The law persists. According to media reports, since the passage of the law, several women and their family members have been arrested for their role in protests against the law. Movahed repeated her action this time waving a hijab and balloons, standing on the Revolution Square, this time in Tehran, and was again arrested. Several Muslim women followed in her footsteps and participated in anti-hijab actions, replicating her tactics. The group of activists became popular on social media with the hashtag Girls of Revolution Street.