A Swedish official was chided by other politicians this weekend after she wore a headscarf to Iran. Critics said Sunday that by agreeing to wear the hijab traditionally used by Muslim women, Swedish Trade Minister Ann Linde and the female members of her delegation were giving into an oppressive tradition.
In Iran, women are required to wear head coverings when out in public — a law Western tourists sometimes break. Opponents of the rule argue it shames women into the rank of second-class citizens by robbing them of their autonomy to make their own religious and cultural choices. And many in Sweden, a country that prides itself on having progressive, feminist policies, have criticized the law and Linde’s choice to follow it.
“It is ruinous to what is called a feminist foreign policy,” Jan Bjorklund, leader of the Liberal party, told the Aftonbladet.
Bjorklund criticized Linde for not requesting an exception to the law so that she could have entered Iran without a headscarf. Linde shot back, saying she did not want to break Iranian law. If she had refused to enter without a headscarf, she said, the Swedish delegation would have had to send an all-male delegation to Iran instead.
But Linde is not only facing criticism in her own country — she also came under fire from women’s rights activists in Iran.
“If you are feminists and you care about equality then you should challenge inequality everywhere,” Masih Alinejad, an Iranian activist, told BBC News. “They must stand for their own values.”
Alinejad juxtaposed two photos on her Facebook page: One photo of the women delegates dressed in hijabs in Iran last weekend, and another of a group of delegates — all women — watching Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin sign a climate change bill. The photo was seen by many as an attempt to mock President Donald Trump, who signed a bill restricting aid to international organizations promoting abortions as he was surrounded by men.
“We at My Stealthy Freedom believe that the female government officials should have also condemned an equally unfair situation in Iran,” Alinejad wrote. “We would like to reiterate that we are not asking them to come and save Iranian women. We are merely asking them to stand their own ground and save themselves. Trump’s words on women are worthy of condemnation; so are the discriminatory laws in Iran.”
Linde said she would not wear a hijab to her upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, though, where foreign women are not required by law to wear a headscarf.
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