Iran Fashion Workers Detained For 'Breaking Social Norm'

ICBPS- Four people involved in the fashion industry in Iran are reported to have been detained by Islamic Morality Police for alleged “Breaking Social Norm” via images posted online. Islamic Laws in Iran

The two women [Mannequins] and two photographers were taken into custody in Kermanshah, western Iran, according to state-run media.

The Islamic prosecutor ordered to arrest of the fashion workers of what he called ‘norm abusers,’ and the shop was closed for violating Islamic principles.

Today in Iran, shopkeepers are banned from displaying female mannequins sans [hair-covering] headscarf, or ones that highlight bodily curves.

No curvy mannequins in Iran are allowed in shop windows. The Islamic Morality Police have warned shopkeepers and merchants not to use mannequins without headscarves or which exposed body curves.

Using mannequins exposing the body curves and with the heads without Hijabs [Islamic veil] are forbidden to be used in the shops and malls.

Since the Revolutionaries took power in 1979, the Islamic Morality Police have stepped up a crackdown on both women and men, boutiques, and small firms which fail to enforce strict religious dress codes.

The Islamic Morality Police also has warned suntanned women and girls who looked like ‘walking mannequins’ will be detained as part of a new movement to enforce the Islamic dress code.

Further, the Islamic Morality Police have launched a strict crackdown on social media in the past years, arresting fashion models active on photo-sharing websites and a blog website manager.

Police have arrested hundreds of fashion models and seized modeling networks in recent years as well as the Revolutionary Courts have issued long-term prison terms, lashes, and fine for publishing photos of women or men without the obligatory Islamic principles on social networks, especially the picture-sharing application Instagram.

Women and girls in Iran are being arrested for ‘cycling’ in public.

In 2017, the Islamic security forces arrested social media channel admins for calling for a ‘mannequin challenge’.

In 2018, Tehran Morality Police arrested 29 women for appearing in public without a headscarf as protests against the dress code in force.

According to Islamic Sharia laws, the mixing of genders in parties or public gatherings is also forbidden in Iran.

The Institute of Capacity Building for Political Studies (ICBPS) is a non-governmental research institute focusing on political studies, international security, and international relations.