Iran Installs Cameras in Public Areas To Catch Women Without Head Coverings

Iran is installing cameras in public places in order to catch women who are not wearing a head and face covering as called for in the country’s dress code. The Islamic Republic’s judiciary announced the new move over the weekend and police said that women caught in public without a hijab would receive a text message telling what their punishment will be. These punishments range from fines to arrest to jail time.

The police statement called on businesses to make sure that the women visiting them are dressed correctly, and called n civilians to confront women who are not covering their hair and wearing loose-fitting clothes as called for in the nearly 25-year-old hijab law.

Women reportedly can be seen flouting the compulsory dress code and going unveiled in malls, restaurants, shops and streets around the country, according to Reuters. Women have publicly disobeyed the hijab law in higher numbers since the death in mid-September of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Masha Amini while in the custody of the morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly. Her death has sparked months of anti-government protesters and led to the arrest and injury of thousands of protesters.