Iranian “morality police” attacked a 14-year-old girl and hit her in the face as punishment for wearing ripped jeans on the street.
The unnamed teen said she was walking through the city of Shiraz, southern Iran, with friends on February 2nd when they were set upon for an apparent breach of Islamic modesty codes.
She described how four people ambushed them, started beating them because of what she was wearing, then forced them into a van and drove them back to their family.
The girl shared photographs of her bruises, including marks on her face (left) and her arm (right) – as well as the apparently forbidden clothing:
She also described continuing pain in her arms and ribs from the attack.
The incident was shared by the My Stealthy Freedom social media campaign, which celebrates women who resist Iran’s repressive clothing laws – and documents the harsh treatment which can sometimes follow.
Here is the girl’s description of what happened:
I am a fourteen year old girl. I was walking on the street with my friends at 8pm when the guidance patrol arrived and tried to force us into their car which we resisted. There were two women and two men with a huge van and they pushed us into the van with the force of their beatings.
Their objection was to the ripped jeans we were wearing. There were no other issues concerning my friends and me, other than wearing ripped jeans.
I couldn’t believe that just for this reason they made me and my family to sign guarantee agreements and I still wear the marks from their beatings on my face. I still feel their pressure on my arm and my ribs still hurts. I live in Shiraz city in Iran.
Heat Street has drawn attention to the methods of Iranian morality enforcers before.
In December, we highlighted video footage of a woman in Tehran being set upon by uniformed men – for apparently wearing her veil wrongly.