Free Republic

In Iran, many women risk years in prison -- or death — trying to assert their right to live without having to wear a chador, or long head covering, often informally called a 'hijab' in the West. Meanwhile, in formerly Jolly Olde England, Labour Party Members of Parliament are proposing that possessing images of Muslim women without their hijabs should be made a criminal offense. You read that right. Unfortunately. Something called the "Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee" is proposing that a picture of a Muslim woman without a religious headscarf, taken without her consent, should be considered “non-consensual intimate...

NYPD is openly recruiting for Sharia compliance!This isn’t about “inclusion.” It’s about normalizing submission—one hijab at a time.💬 “We have 1,200 Muslim officers… 10 in hijab… I’m looking forward to another 100,000 ladies wearing hijabs in the near future as NYPD.”This is the slow surrender of Western values. The hijab isn’t just a scarf—it’s a symbol of Sharia, a system that says Kafirs are inferior, women are responsible for men’s desires, and those who disobey must be punished.What’s next? Sharia patrols? Burqas in blue?This is the slow surrender of Western values. And it’s happening in broad daylight…

Imagine walking through the streets of Italy, a proud nation steeped in Western history, art, and freedom, and being told: “Be careful. You need to wear a veil.” No, this isn’t Saudi Arabia or Iran. This is happening in Europe, on your doorstep. A non-Muslim Italian woman, simply existing as a free woman with uncovered hair, is “warned” by Islamic migrants to adhere to Sharia rules – to veil herself or risk the consequences. This isn’t a suggestion. It’s an implied threat. “You have to be careful. If you go out, wear a veil.” Let that sink in. In Italy...

A female college student was arrested in Iran on Sunday for stripping down and strutting around campus in her underwear in apparent protest over allegedly being assaulted for not wearing a hijab. A now-viral video shows the young woman in a bra and panties in the courtyard of Tehran’s Azad University, while other footage shows her soon being shoved by men into a car and being driven away. The unidentified student was protesting security forces who had ripped her clothing earlier while confronting her for not wearing a headscarf, which Iranian law demands for all women in public, Iran International...

The Sharia colonization of the West continues. According to a report out by Michael Dorgan and published by Fox News, the New York City government has agreed to a “preliminary financial settlement” of $17.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought against the city in 2018 by Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, two Muslim women who were forced to remove their hijabs in order to get their mugshots taken after they were arrested for allegedly violating orders of protection (restraining orders). Now, also per Dorgan, the agreement still has to be approved by a district judge, but this is...

A transgender inmate serving a 55-year sentence for strangling her 11-month-old stepdaughter to death filed a civil lawsuit against the prison chaplain for allegedly prohibiting her from wearing a hijab outside her immediate bed quarters, despite identifying as Muslim. Autumn Cordellionè, also known as Jonathan C. Richardson, is currently serving out her sentence at the Branchville Correctional Facility, an Indiana Department of Correction state prison for men. According to the lawsuit filed Nov. 30 and obtained by Fox News Digital, a prison chaplain told Cordellionè the hijab was not allowed to be worn outside her immediate bed area. Cordellionè is...

The flogging of an Iranian woman who refused to wear the mandatory hijab has sparked widespread horror and condemnation. Iranian authorities carried out the sentence against Roya Heshmati last Wednesday, prompting a torrent of outrage on social media. Mazyar Tataei, Heshmati's lawyer, told local newspaper Shargh that his client was detained at her home in April by so-called morality police, who confiscated her mobile phone and laptop and placed her in detention for 11 days. He added that initially, Heshmati was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in prison, a 112,500,000 rials fine and 148 lashes, but a review...

33-year-old Roya Heshmati accused by Tehran’s judiciary of having ‘encouraged permissiveness’ after violating mandatory dress code in public... TEHRAN — Iranian authorities have whipped a woman 74 times for “violating public morals” and fined her for not covering her head, the judiciary said. “The convicted, Roya Heshmati, encouraged permissiveness [by appearing] disgracefully in busy public places in Tehran,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said late on Saturday. “Her penalty of 74 strokes of the lash was carried out in accordance with the law and with sharia,” and “for violating public morals,” Mizan said. Kurdish-focused rights group Hengaw identified Heshmati as...

An Iranian teenager who was reportedly assaulted by state morality police for not wearing a mandatory hijab is now 'brain dead', state media say.

Iranian women who resist the hijab law face the brutal prospect of frozen bank accounts, drawing chilling parallels to the repressive tactics of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau against protestors. Iran is intensifying its efforts to enforce strict dress codes for women by instituting a new law that fines women 2.5 billion rials ($60,000) for flouting hijab rules. Last month, Iran’s judiciary chief reiterated that “removing one’s hijab is equivalent to showing enmity to the Islamic Republic.” This is all part of the Islamic Republic’s adherence to the Sharia, as it ramps up efforts even further to counter protests. The Quranic...

Identified women will receive a text about the consequences of not covering their hair with a hijab, police said. This would help prevent "resistance against the hijab law", police said. Protests were sparked last year by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly violating the hijab rule. Since Ms Amini's death a growing number of women have been discarding their veils, particularly in larger cities, despite the risk of arrest. A police statement published by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said the system used so-called "smart" cameras and other tools to...

A Muslim woman has revealed the “rude” question she claims an elderly man asked her at an aquarium. Savannah, who was wearing a black-and-white hijab, claims the man asked her: “Are you dressed up as a penguin?” The woman, who works at the aquarium in Sydney, explained what happened in a video posted on TikTok. “Once he pointed that out, I was thinking ‘do I look like a penguin?’” “I didn’t know what to say, so I was like ‘yeah, I’m a penguin’, cause like I thought he was joking, but he was dead serious.” Savannah says the man...

On December 26, the Iranian chess player participated in the World Rapid Chess Championship in Kazakhstan with her head uncovered, a silent protest that is a very serious offense in her native country. After the photos circled the world, she announced her intention to settle in Spain. Her story represents the cause of freedom that so many Iranian women are fighting for One day, Sara Khadem will have to explain some very complicated realities to Sam, her 10-month-old son. Like why she decided to compete in the 2022 World Rapid Chess Championship in Kazakhstan with her head uncovered. These days,...

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian chess player arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving what a source close to her said were warnings not to return to Iran for competing without a hijab at an international tournament in Kazakhstan. Sara Khadem, born in 1997, took part in last week's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict dress codes. The source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Khadem subsequently received multiple phone calls in which individuals warned her against returning...

(JNS) On the front pages of newspapers around the world, we are now privileged to witness the extraordinary strength of women oppressed by fanatical forms of Islam. In Iran, these women are emerging as our heroines. Young and old, they are willing to expose themselves to imprisonment, violence and potential death in order to achieve liberation. In Iran, they are leading the charge for regime change and thus the end of one of the most evil dictatorships of this century. There is no sign that these women are slowing down. Yesterday, Vida Movahed, who became known worldwide for a...

Women's freedoms have been further curtailed in Afghanistan, after the Taliban barred them from working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The Islamist rulers said female NGO employees had been breaking Sharia law by failing to wear the hijab. It comes days after female students were banned from universities - the latest restriction on their education since the Taliban regained power. Women prevented from going to work told the BBC of their fear and helplessness. One said she was the main earner in her household, and asked: "If I cannot go to my job, who can support my family?" Another breadwinner insisted...

The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon is facing criticism within the State Department for wearing a hijab earlier this month during meetings with pro-Hezbollah officials at a time when Iranian protesters are rallying against such draconian religious displays. Dorothy Shea, who has served as the top U.S. diplomat in Lebanon since 2020, was recently pictured in regional media outlets meeting with Lebanon’s Higher Shiite Islamic Council, a religious body that experts view as allied with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group that wages outsized political influence in Lebanon. One senior diplomatic source told the Washington Free Beacon the gesture undermines U.S. efforts...

Iran’s president walked out on an interview with CNN Wednesday, after one of the anchors refused his demand she wear a hijab. The interview was to be held in New York Wednesday, during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to the US for his address at the United Nations General Assembly. Christiane Amanpour, a veteran journalist for the cable news channel, was waiting to interview Raisi Wednesday when an aide to the Iranian president urged her to wear a headscarf, she tweeted Thursday. “This was going to be President Raisi’s first ever interview on US soil, during his visit to NY...

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers decided against opening schools to girls above the sixth grade, reneging on a previous promise and opting to appease their hardline base at the expense of further alienating the international community. The unexpected decision, confirmed by a Taliban official Wednesday, came at the start of the new school year in Afghanistan. It is bound to disrupt Taliban efforts to win recognition from potential international donors, at a time when the country is mired in a worsening humanitarian crisis. ... women are not required to wear the all encompassing burqa. but must wear the traditional hijab, covering their...

Amid widespread protests over a ban on hijabs in schools, an Indian court has temporarily prohibited all forms of religious dress in schools while it considers a legal challenge to the hijab ban. The current conflict began in September 2021 when a girl’s preparatory school in the Indian state of Karnataka moved to ban hijabs, saying the Muslim headscarves violated the school’s dress code. In the months and weeks since, students at various schools in the region have protested the ban by wearing their hijabs and demanding to be let back into school. At the same time, mobs of Hindu...