WOMEN: Interior Ministry Official Blasts Police for Arresting Violators of Islamic Dress Code

July 31, 2004 - “Those who think they can fight disrespect for Islamic dress code by arresting and punishing women should know that their efforts are having the reverse of its intended effect on the society,” interior ministry’s director of women’s affairs Fakhrosadat Mohtashamipour said in an interview carried by domestic press. For the past two months, the special units of the Islamic Republic police have stepped up their enforcement of the Islamic dress code by arresting young women with “improper” head covers, Tehran-based independent journalist Arash Qavidel says.