Countries: Switzerland
Variables: RCDW-PRACTICE-2, RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"Switzerland has proposed a £900 fine for anyone covering their face under a 'burqa ban' law. The draft law was today sent to parliament by the Swiss government and includes several exemptions, including suggesting waiving the ban on aircraft, in diplomatic premises and places of worship" (para 1-2). "Also, under the draft law, masks deemed necessary to protect oneself while exercising fundamental rights to expression and assembly would be allowed as long as authorities approved and public order was assured" (para 5). "Following consultations, the cabinet watered down calls to anchor it in the criminal code and fine offenders up to 10,000 francs" (para 9). "Full face veils were banned...more

Countries: Iran
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"A quick look at Iran’s constitution concerning the hijab reveals the erroneous interpretation—and how the regulation of women’s appearance is built into the laws and constitution of Iran. According to Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code, failure to appear without hijab in public is punishable by imprisonment from 10 days to two months or up to 74 lashes. So whether an entity dedicated to enforcing the law—in this case, the morality police—exists, the compulsory hijab is a constitutional mandate" (para 4) "On Dec 5, an entire amusement park was shut down when a female employee showed up to work without a headscarf. In another incident, a member of parliament...more

Countries: Iran
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"A senior Iranian official said this weekend that Iran had abolished the morality police, the state media reported, after months of protests set off by the death of a young woman who was detained by the force for supposedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress laws"(para 1). "Shadi Sadr, a prominent human rights lawyer who has fought for women’s rights in Iran for decades, said on Twitter that scrapping the morality police would not be big news because 'hijab is still compulsory and enforced by other means such as expulsion from university or school'"(para 13). "Abolishing the morality police could have a major effect on the state’s ability to control...more

Countries: Indonesia
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"The Islamists did not advocate to make the hijab mandatory; no law or regulation required women and girls to wear the hijab" (19).

Countries: Indonesia
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"In March 2005, Article 10 of the decree [issued by Mayor Fauzi Bahar of Padang on Muslim attire] states that, 'Muslim students at primary schools, Islamic madrasah, junior high schools, and senior high schools must wear Muslim/Muslimah attire; non-Muslims should adopt [long skirts for girls and long pants for boys]'" (28). "In August 2005, Gamawan Fauzi, the governor of West Sumatra, issued a circular calling on all Muslims to wear Islamic attire; this included women and girls in all public spaces... Also, in 2005, South Kalimantan Governor Rudy Ariffin issued a decree requiring women civil servants to wear a hijab and long skirt" (29).

Countries: Germany
Variables: ERBG-PRACTICE-1, RCDW-LAW-1

"Several German states continue to ban teachers and civil servants from wearing niqab at work" (107).

Countries: France
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"In 2010, France enacted a national law banning the wearing of full-face veils anywhere in public... The law made it a criminal offense to wear clothing intended to cover the face in public, punishable by a fine of up to €150 (US$210) and/or a compulsory 'citizenship course.' The law also criminalized coercing someone else into covering their face, punishable by up to a year in prison and a €30,000 ($40,950) fine, or two years in prison and a €60,000 fine if the person coerced is a minor. The law entered into force in April 2011" (104-105).

Countries: Iran
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"A number of girls 'removed their hijab at the end of the sports event without observing the religious considerations and legal norms', state news agency IRNA quoted Shiraz police chief Faraj Shojaee as saying"(para 2). "Five people accused of organising the event - where dozens of teenagers also mixed freely contravening strict Islamic guidelines - have been detained"(para 3). "'Holding any mixed sports or non-sports gathering without observing the religious and legal norms is prohibited... and the organisers will be dealt with according to the law,' Shojaee added."(para 5).

Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"Shocking footage shows female Afghan students being whipped by a Taliban official after they were barred from entering their university campus because they were not wearing burkas...It comes nearly three months after the Taliban's religious police introduced stricter measures on how women dress in Badakhshan, particularly in the capital Faizabad which is where the university is located. According to the Directorate of Vice and Virtue, proper attire for women in public is either a niqab - a veil covering the head and face but not the eyes - or a burka - a veil that covers the entire body and face, with a mesh window across the eyes. Public universities...more

Countries: Iran
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"Controlling women's bodies has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic from its inception. After the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his disciples passed a draconian hijab law, in 1983, that established a new dress code for women in public. While this law has existed ever since, its rigid application has ebbed and flowed for the past 40 years. Reformist governments discouraged the morality police—the Gasht-e Ershad or 'Guidance Patrol'—from harassing women, while hard-liners did the opposite, viewing this show of force against women as a non-negotiable principle of Iran's theocratic regime. In 2018, after a woman in Tehran was physically beaten by a police officer for 'insufficient hijab,'...more

Countries: Iran
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"The Iranian government is planning to use facial recognition technology on public transport to identify women who are not complying with a strict new law on wearing the hijab, as the regime continues its increasingly punitive crackdown on women’s dress." (Para.1). "The secretary of Iran’s Headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, Mohammad Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, announced in a recent interview that the government was planning to use surveillance technology against women in public places following a new decree signed by the country’s hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, on restricting women’s clothing" (Para.2). "The hijab, a head-covering worn by Muslim women, became mandatory after Iran’s revolution in 1979. Yet, over the...more

Countries: Denmark
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"The Danish Commission for the Forgotten Women’s Struggle – a body set up by Denmark’s ruling Social Democratic Party – has recommended that the country’s government ban hijabs (Muslim headscarves) for students in Danish elementary schools" (Para.1). "Huda Makai Asghar, 15, would be forced to take off her headscarf if the ban is implemented. The ninth grader at the Kokkedal Skole – a school outside of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, with close to 800 students – has been wearing the hijab for two years" (Para.3).

Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"Outside the capital there were some signs that Saturday's announcement was fuelling stricter oversight of women's dress. A doctor in southeastern Afghanistan said Taliban officials had told her not to treat female patients who did not have a male chaperone and were not fully covered" (Para.13-14). "A university student in northern Afghanistan said university officials since Saturday were becoming much stricter on dress code, telling her on Monday that her colourful headscarf was unacceptable and she must wear all black" (Para.15).

Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1, RCDW-LAW-2

"After initially adopting a more flexible attitude when taking power last August, the Taliban have recently been issuing more and more hardline edicts, including making the face veil compulsory for women and encouraging them to stay at home" (Para.24).

Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: RCDW-LAW-1

"And if the Taliban do ultimately allow girls to attend secondary school girls, they are likely to forced to don a face veil and will be carefully watched by teachers appointed by local Taliban officials to ensure they strictly adhere to their restrictive uniforms"(Para.5).