 | ||
Guidance Patrol (Persian: گشت ارشاد, gašt-e eršād; also known as morality police) is a kind of vice squad in the Law Enforcement Force of Islamic Republic of Iran, established in 2005 with the task to arrest mostly women (but also some men) who deem improperly dressed according to the dress code.
The patrols usually consist of a van with male crew accompanied by chador-clad females that stand at busy public places e.g. shopping centers, squares and subway stations to pry, intercept and detain bad-hijabs. They are driven to a correctional facility or police station, lectured on how to dress and almost always released on the same day after their fathers, husbands or brothers go to the station to get them released.
In 2013's Iranian Mother's Day, the patrols rewarded flowers to women for wearing chador (the preferred hijab style).
A matter of controversy in Iran, some officials and authorities state that based on their interpretation of Iranian police as an Islamic religious police, the Guidance Patrols serve to fulfill the requisites enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and are demanded by the people. Others oppose their existence on the grounds that the police should respect citizens' freedom and dignity, and enforce the law, not sharia. They have also been criticized for being un-Islamic, most importantly because performing the requisites is haraam (forbidden) when it leads to sedition. It is also argued that the notion is a mutual obligation (including remonstrating officials by the people as well) limited to one side.