Defiant activists walk without veils in Iran to support woman branded "animal" and manhandled by 'morality police'
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Women are walking publicly in Iran without a veil in a show of support after one woman was manhandled by the country's so-called 'morality police' for apparently wearing hers too loosely.
Videos shared on Twitter show female campaigners taking to streets in cities without headscarves in defiance of a strict Islamic dress code, which orders women to cover their hair.
It comes days after a member of Iran's so-called 'morality police' was filmed ordering a woman to "sit you animal" - because she apparently wore her veil too loosely.
The "walking unveiled" campaign has reportedly been launched in Iranian capital Tehran and Shiraz with dozens of women taking part.
In one video, shared on Twitter by Iranian activist Masih Alineiad, under the hashtag #mycameraismyweapon, two women without headscarves are strolling in Shiraz where bystanders supposedly gave them "very bad looks".
In the footage, one woman says: "Hi Masih jan. We are in Shiraz and it is very busy.
"My friend and I have joined the walking unveiled campaign.
"People were giving us very bad looks and we just had an argument with a man, and a full woman in hijab defended us by saying we should be allowed to dress as we like.
"We walked the entire journey unveiled."
Masih has previously claimed men have threatened to "butcher" and kidnap her over her refusal to wear a hijab.
Activists have sprung into action after disturbing footage emerged of a woman being branded an "animal" as she was reportedly confronted over her veil.
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Iran's vice president for women's affairs has condemned the incident involving a member of the country's so-called 'morality police', who often patrol areas tasked with enforcing strict rules on dress.
The confrontation was captured on a mobile phone camera and has now been widely circulated online.
After an exchange of words - during which the woman is told "sit, you animal!" - a female religious police officer appears to push and shove her.
The encounter then grows more violent, as the woman cries for help.
She is slapped in the face and wrestled to the floor. The young woman can be heard screaming repeatedly: “Let me go, let me go.”
The footage was spread on social media by activists campaigning against the compulsory wearing of the hijab in Iran.
Iran's vice president for women's affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar condemned the confrontation.
"What justifies this behavior?" she tweeted. "Where is the limit of an officer's action, even if they were insulted?
"I strongly condemn this treatment. No human deserves this kind of harsh anti-religion behavior."
Ebtekar later tweeted that Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli had ordered a "comprehensive review" and a report on the findings by Saturday.
"People are angry because such mistreatments are happening over and over again.
"People have lost their hope because the morality police acts with impunity in the name of law," Alinejad told the Guardian .