Thousands of people protest against the agents who punish with fines, prison or flogging those detained for violating the Islamic code of conduct
Created after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Morale Police (Gasht-e Ershad or Orientation Patrols, in Persian) is one of the security forces that operates in Iran. Since the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was arrested for wearing the veil incorrectly, thousands of people have taken to the streets – not only in Tehran and other provinces of the territory, but also in front of the embassies of other countries such as Spain, the United States, France or the United Kingdom – to protest against the yoke of the theocratic regime. And at the center of the controversy is the Moral Police, accused of beating Amini and others who have participated in the demonstrations to death.
But what is the function of this entity? It is charged with enforcing the Islamic code of conduct in public. In this way, it is in his power to stop women who violate the conservative dress code, which was imposed to “promote virtue and prevent vice.” Specifically, they focus on ensuring that the jihab is worn correctly, assessing whether the woman is showing too much hair, her clothes are too short or her pants too tight, and even if she wears too much makeup.
The law also prohibits wearing ripped pants, bright colors, and dresses that expose the knees. “They told us that the reason why we are working for the Moral Police units is to protect women,” an agent who is part of this Iranian body tells the BBC anonymously. “Because if they don’t dress appropriately, then men could be provoked and hurt them.”
How do they work? A van with male police officers accompanied by women covered in full body patrols in crowded public places, such as squares, shopping malls and subway stations. “It’s weird, because if we’re just going to guide people, why do we have to pick a bustling place where we could potentially have to arrest more people? It is as if we were going to hunt, ”says the agent.
185 deaths
The detainees receive a notification and in some cases are taken to a “correctional center” where they receive lessons on how to dress and behave in public “with morality”. In principle, they are released the same day and handed over to a male relative. However, there are times when they are punished for violating the regulations, be it with fines, imprisonment or even flogging.
This abuse of power is what is denounced by the thousands of people who have taken to the streets since last September 16, when Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was detained by the Moral Police, died. And not only her. Numerous families have denounced the death of their daughters in these protests. Hadis Nafaji (22 years old), Nika Shahkarami (16) and Sarina Esmailzadeh (16) are other faces of the brutal repression of the Iranian regime that, in total, has caused the death of at least 185 people -19 of them, minors- during the demonstrations, according to the human rights organization Iran Human Rights.
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