Iranian men have been taking pictures of themselves wearing hijabs and posting them on social media, in solidarity with women and girls.

The country is known for its stringent policing of women’s clothing, having enforced the wearing of headscarves in public since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, before which fashion in Iran was not dissimilar to that in the West.

Known as the ‘morality police’, enforcers walk the streets and punish women exposing their hair with fines or even imprisonment, and posters around the country propagandise that women not covering their hair are dishonourable – even at risk of inviting sexual assault.

The rules have resulted in a recent backlash amongst women who have been publicly removing their headscarves with some even shaving their heads and dressing like men so that they may walk out without covering themselves.

Now some men are taking a stand alongside women, themselves donning the hijab and taking selfies alongside female relatives beside them – who have their hair uncovered.

Why men in Iran are taking selfies in hijabs