Iran is using aerial drones, facial recognition systems, and a citizen-reporting app to enforce mandatory hijab laws on women, according to a United Nations report released Friday. <\/p>\n
The report highlights Iran\u2019s escalating reliance on technology to monitor and punish women defying the mandatory dress code. Central to this crackdown is the \u201cNazer\u201d mobile application, a government-backed tool that allows citizens and police to report women for alleged violations. <\/p>\n
Investigators involved in a two-year fact-finding mission accuse Iran of systemic human rights violations and crimes against humanity in its repression of dissent, particularly targeting women and girls. <\/p>\n
According to the report, the \u201cNazer\u201d mobile application enables users to upload the license plate, location, and time of a vehicle where a woman is not wearing a hijab. The app then \u201cflags\u201d the vehicle online, alerting the police,\u201d the report reads. <\/p>\n
The app also \u201ctriggers a text message (in real-time) to the registered owner of the vehicle, warning them that they had been found in violation of the mandatory hijab laws, and that their vehicles would be impounded for ignoring these warnings,\u201d per the report. <\/p>\n
The app, accessible via Iran\u2019s police, abbreviated as (FARAJA) website, was expanded in September 2024 to target women in ambulances, taxis, and public transport. <\/p>\n
Authorities have also deployed \u201caerial drones\u201d in the capital Tehran and southern Iran to surveil public spaces and \u201cto monitor hijab compliance in public spaces,\u201d researchers found, in addition to new facial recognition software reportedly installed in early 2024 \u201cat the entrance gate of the Amirkabir University in Tehran, to monitor such compliance by women students.\u201d <\/p>\n
Though suspended in December 2024 after an internal debate, Iran\u2019s draft law \u201cHijab and Chastity\u201d looms as a severe threat for women and girls in the country. <\/p>\n
If enacted, the law would impose penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines equivalent to $12,000 for non-compliance, the report says. Under Article 286 of Iran\u2019s Islamic Penal Code, women could face the \u201cdeath penalty\u201d if accused of \u201ccorruption on earth.\u201d <\/p>\n
The law would further delegate enhanced enforcement powers to Iran\u2019s security apparatus while also increasing the use of technology and surveillance, the report says. <\/p>\n
Hundreds of people were killed in protests, the UN said in 2022, against Iran\u2019s mandatory hijab law and political and social issues following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September of that year. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Iran is using aerial drones, facial recognition systems, and a citizen-reporting app to enforce mandatory hijab laws on women, according to a United Nations report released Friday. The report highlights Iran\u2019s escalating reliance on technology to monitor and punish women defying the mandatory dress code. Central to this crackdown is the \u201cNazer\u201d mobile application, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}