In preparation for visits from foreign dignitaries, the authorities in Tehran clear the streets of homeless people, sex workers, and drug addicts. Those who get picked up are taken to special detention centers outside the city. Stripped of their rights, dignity, and freedom, the authorities hold them there until the eyes of the outside world are directed elsewhere. Then the men are released to go back out onto the streets. But the women are not: instead, they become official state prisoners for life.
