Published on : 24 June 20192 min reading time
Women continued to face systematic discrimination in legislation and practice, including in matters of divorce, employment, inheritance and access to political office, as well as in the family and criminal law. Authorities continued to monitor and restrict the overseas travel of women’s rights activists as well. Lately, Alieh Motalebzadeh was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for participating in a seminar in Georgia on women’s empowerment and elections. There are many women activists in Iran who are still fighting for women’s rights, check the biography of Maryam Rajavi https://www.maryam-rajavi.com/ and learn more about women’s rights in Iran.
Violence against women an dgirls
Violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and early and forced marriages, was very common and committed with impunity. Gender-based violence was not criminalized; a draft law to that effect had been pending since 2012. The minimum legal age for marriage for girls was still 13 years, and it was possible for fathers or grandfathers to obtain court authorization to marry their daughter or granddaughter even younger.
The Guardian Council rejected all 137 female candidates for the presidential election. Despite the demands of civil society, President Hassan Rouhani has not appointed any women ministers in his government.
Wearing a headscarf is an obligation
The requirement to wear a headscarf (hijab) has allowed police and paramilitary forces to harass and imprison women who allowed a strand of hair to protrude from their headscarves, were over-painted or wore tight clothing. Defamation campaigns, endorsed by the authorities, were carried out against women who campaigned against the compulsory wearing of headscarves.
The Iranian Civil Code still prohibited Iranian women married to foreigners from transmitting their nationality to their children, whereas this right existed for Iranian men married to foreigners.
The authorities resisted persistent public pressure to open football stadiums to women spectators.
Access to modern and affordable contraceptive methods was very limited, as the authorities failed to restore the budget for public family planning programs that was cut in 2012. In October, Parliament passed a law severely restricting the dissemination of information on contraception.