The Regression of Women’s Rights in Iran

16th September, 2022. That is the day Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died in the custody of Iranian police. She was in judicial custody just because she refused to wear a hijab. This is the reality of not one, but several women and girls currently living in Iran.

The situation of women in Iran has, over the past decade, become an egregious conflate of human rights violations, suppression of fundamental rights and also regression concerning freedom of expression and political rights. Amidst trying to inculpate specific political leaders, we often forget that the real victims here are the people of Iran, especially Iranian women who have witnessed severe deterioration. It is like Iran left one toxic relationship with the Pahlavi regime and almost immediately entered another with Ayatollah Khamenei. Notably, Iran was removed from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on 14th December 2022, following a plethora of protests sparked by Amini’s death; this elucidates Iran’s theocratic government’s non-compliant and unwilling nature to remotely work on improving the prevalent issue regarding women’s rights.

This makes it conspicuously clear that if we would like to work towards improving this erroneous situation, then we need to garner support on an international forum and advisory bodies such as the CSW to make viable recommendations to executive bodies of the UN.

In order to discuss political rights and healthcare, it is imperative to note the biases and prejudices against women in the Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran (here on referred to as the IPC). Firstly, the document uses a plethora of ambiguous and undefined terms such as ‘mature’, ‘immature’, ‘old’ and ‘has will and intention’, which gives official authorities room to manoeuvre and manipulate the law in their favour. Article 76 of the IPC prevents women from even reporting cases of domestic violence due to lack of support and the court considers solely their testimony as invalid. Moreover, Article 150 of the IPC clearly bases a deceased woman’s right to justice on her lineage and the number of children/inheritors she has.

Furthermore, Article 300 of the IPC shows the government’s belief that a woman only deserves half of what a man does, in this particular article with respect to bloody money for first- or second-degree murder. Articles 513, 514 and 640 basically stifle the right of freedom of expression (of political opinions) and deem such actions as punishable offences. Article 638 also indicates that women will receive 74 lashes for violating any religious ‘taboo’ in public.

Abysmally, UN Women in 2021 reported that only 5.6% of the total seats in the national Parliament are held by women. This is predominantly because women are not able to even protest and voice their opinions freely, as was seen in the 2022 protests due to Mahsa Amini’s death, where police officials began using violence as a means to quell the protests; this is again a violation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Furthermore, Iran fails to provide adequate healthcare to women. It must be noted here that the scope of healthcare does not only include medical but also mental and psychological well-being. According to UN Women Reports, healthcare for women in Iran, includes care of mothers and newborn babies, cash benefits to mothers, and trouble-free access to healthcare among others.

All the aforementioned issues are not due to Sharia Law itself, but the stringent imposition and interpretation of Sharia Law in Iran. Although the Iranian Constitution provides for access to equal rights for women, the Iranian Penal Code and the action of the Gasht-e-Ershad (morality police) contradict these very salient facets of the legal system, making the situation hostile for women.

Protests against the theocratic rule soon became rampant and tempestuous, garnering support of the citizens through the ‘One Million Signature’ Campaign which was a petition to call for fresh, unbiased elections in Iran and legislative reforms. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for the death of over 537 Iranian citizens in late 2022 itself, for what they based on the pretext of ‘violent protests’. Soon after the protests began, the Iranian Government restricted total access of the citizens to social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, as a means to quell protests.

It is essential to take immediate action; an elixir most certainly is needed. Now, these reforms and actions can be implemented by the United Nations Security Council. Firstly, we should call for the creation of the ‘Iranian Regulatory Committee for Protection of Women’s Rights’, or the IRCPWR, in tandem with the UN Charter such that articles 2(4) and (7) are not violated and the territorial sovereignty of Iran is preserved. This committee will encompass a comprehensive and progressive approach with the predominant aim to look after women’s rights as defined in Resolution 1325 (2000) and create a favourable environment for women post the ‘supposed’ disbandment of Gasht-e-Ershad with a modern outlook, where the committee will be provided with an annual designated fund to carry out the following- launch of hotlines, help desks and service centres for women run by women and improvement in the women’s education and health sector, including better access to reproductive and sexual healthcare, maternity care and access to skilled gynaecologists and physicians.

The presence of these hotlines will assist and provide legal consultation to women. This launch will enable women to take psychological consultations which helps them cope with mental distress and familial ailments. Women’s health and education sector should be improved. This should involve the provision of education at a subsidised cost to all girls below the age of 14 and also the provision of adequate assistance by government-affiliated hospitals to mothers and their newborn babies.

Further, increasing women’s literacy rate and promoting involvement of women in scientific, agricultural, cultural, health-related and other such fields must also be considered.

Secondly, improvement of the current infrastructure and intelligence networks is very crucial. This is necessary especially in developing nations prone to human trafficking, to enable collection, collation and analysis of conundrums relating to victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, places of their disappearance, routes and modes of transport taken by suspects, destinations notorious for mass human trafficking, identities of carriers/leaders/agents who partake in such activities and also sources of their economic income, which will then be sharedwith the international forum.

Thirdly, the CSW must submit a report to the Security Council vis-à-vis the Economic and Social Council requesting elections in Iran. Holding of unbiased elections in Iran, which can be overseen by an official United Nations Body upon consent of Iran, for positions of higher authority which can be substantially linked to corruption and other forms of malpractices by the government.
Elections will be held after submitting the proof of corruption in the aforementioned report and with the consent of the nation. This is on the premise of the ‘One Million Signatures’ campaign which calls for reforms in the existing legislative system of Iran.

In conclusion, we must strive to achieve equitable distribution of resources amongst men and women. We must believe in the realisation of every woman regarding the rights she has and we believe in encouraging every woman to become the best possible version of herself.
This will be evident more so from our recent legislative reforms including decriminalising abortion and providing better access to reproductive healthcare, with further stringent punishment for culprits of femicide and better conditions for women in the field of politics.