Iran Opens ‘Mental Health Clinic’ to Treat Women Who Refuse to Wear Hijab

In a move that has stirred international outcry, Iran has opened a mental health facility in Tehran, dubbed the “Clinic for Quitting Hijab Removal,” aimed at “treating” women and girls who resist the country’s compulsory hijab laws. This clinic, the latest tool of enforcement by the Islamic Republic, is part of an ongoing crackdown on women’s rights and freedoms following the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

A Facility to “Treat” Anti-Hijab Sentiment

The center, overseen by Mehri Talebi Darestani, focuses on “scientific and psychological treatment” for women, especially teens and young adults, who choose not to wear the hijab. Darestani claims the clinic’s goal is to instill values of “dignity, modesty, chastity, and hijab,” asserting that attendance is “optional.”

The clinic’s operations are directed by Iran’s Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil, a government body known for enforcing Iran’s strict religious and social codes. This department, sanctioned by the UK and other countries for human rights abuses, has been at the forefront of punishing women who fail to comply with hijab laws. Its leader, Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, was appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Growing Dissent and Repression

Resistance to the compulsory hijab laws has intensified since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody in 2022 after being detained for not wearing her hijab properly. This tragic incident sparked widespread protests, and women across Iran have taken bold actions, including appearing in public without hijabs or staging protests. Just recently, a university student at Islamic Azad University in Tehran was arrested and sent to a psychiatric hospital after protesting hijab laws by walking on campus in her underwear.

These measures reflect a growing trend where Iran’s government brands women who refuse the hijab as mentally ill. In a similar move, prominent Iranian actresses, including Afsaneh Bayegan and Azadeh Samadi, have been ordered to attend psychiatric check-ups after posting photos of themselves without hijabs.

Widespread Condemnation and Calls for Change

Human rights advocates and international bodies have condemned Iran’s policies. The UN has labeled the intensified restrictions as “gender apartheid,” and Amnesty International criticized the government’s tactics, highlighting the constant surveillance, harassment, and mental anguish inflicted on women and girls. Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa director, remarked that Iranian authorities are “terrorizing women and girls by subjecting them to constant surveillance and policing, disrupting their daily lives, and causing them immense mental distress.”

Iranian psychiatric associations have also pushed back. Four associations jointly condemned the labeling of anti-hijab women as mentally ill, stating that diagnoses of mental disorders should be left to medical professionals, not judges.

A Continued Struggle for Freedom

As Iran tightens its grip on women’s rights, the response from the global community and within Iran itself has been vocal. The Clinic for Quitting Hijab Removal reflects a broader strategy to subdue the spirit of resistance and control women’s freedoms. For many Iranian women, the fight for the right to choose continues, while the world watches closely.