Gaylord 1

Leah Gaylord
World Studies
Period 7
May 5, 2016
Human Rights Research Paper

I.

Introduction

Niloufar Ardalan has loved soccer since she was a young girl. Now 30, she is the captain of
Irans Soccer team. However, when her team qualified for the AFC Womens Futsal Championship in
Malaysia, Ardalan was not allowed to travel with the team because her husband had forbade her to
travel.1 Niloufar is just one of many Iranian women whose life choices are heavily dictated by her
spouse. Her gender causes her to be treated like a second class citizen in her own country.
Gender inequality has been an issue that has plagued Iran for the past 2 centuries. According to
the UN in 2014, Iran was ranked 104 of 152 on the scale of gender equality, number one being the best
terms of equality.2 Unlike the United States, Iran is not a secular country. Much of Iranian law centers
around the Islamic Quran and the religious rules that are derived from it. However, the government of
Iran continues not to acknowledge this injustice hiding behind the islamic religion. One major example
of this is the mandatory hijab. The hijab is a black veil that covers all of a womans hair and neck, only
exposing the face. Article 102 of the Iranian Constitution says, "Women who appear on streets and in
public without the prescribed Islamic Hejab will be condemned to 74 strokes of the lash. 3. The 74
lashes show that women are exposed to harsh punishments when not obedient, in accordance with the
1 Dehghan, Saeed Kamali. "Husband Bars Iranian Footballer from Asian Championships." The Guardian.
Guardian News and Media, 16 Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016
2 Esfandiari, Haleh. "The Iran Primer." The Women's Movement. United States Institute of Peace, Aug.
2015.
Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
3 Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.

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dress code. While the punishment seems extreme, it illustrates how serious the government takes
towards ensuring compliance by women. The Iranian governments intent of this law is to protect
women from the prying eyes of men and free women from being thought of as sexual objects of desire
or body shape rather then their minds and intellect. According to the Quran 24:30-31, the hijab is
something the islams believe god requires women to wear, because he wants them to dress modestly and
not to show off their adornment. However, despite what the Quran and the government say, this article
of clothing mostly be-littles women's worth and makes them inferior.
Aside from legally requiring women to wear hijabs, the government also directly states that
women are of less value of than men. Article 209 of the Iranian Constitution states that a woman's life
is valued only half as much as a man's life. The law also go on to say that if a woman is murdered by
someone, before the assailant can be executed, the victim's family must pay the assailant's family for the
value of their lost child. This law not only is demeaning to women in Iran, but also can encourage
impoverished families to kill someone else in order to collect this payment from the victim's family.
While in the United States, marriage is a sacred union between two lovers that is meet equally on
both sides, in Iran, women are not treated as equals in relationships. Due to the societal norm that men
do the work and bring in the money, while women take care of the house and children, it causes the
value of the man in the relationship to rise. The problem comes when a women is no longer her own self
and is instead property of her spouse. In Iran, It is in the husband's power to divorce his wife without
any notice and to control when she leaves the house. Men are even legally allowed to have many wives
while women can only have one husband. Women becoming mens property can also be seen in the law
about husband controlling the whereabouts of their wives. A women cannot leave her home without her
husband's permission, even to attend her father's funeral". This ludicrous law is one of the biggest
injustices. It was because of this law that soccer player Niloufars husband was able to keep her at home

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instead of at the championships. This brutal injustice literally makes women prisoners in their own
homes and can encourage unhealthy relationships .
Overall, women do not share equal rights to men in Iran. However, their daily life is not as bleak
as it is made out to be. Women in Iran still experience the general pleasures like being able to have jobs
and there are a few women in the government. So, while people often think of them complete victims,
they still are able to live light with a certain passion and inspiration.

II.

Historical Background

Since the rise of the Persian empire, women have faced brutal inequality in Iran. While a few
visionary leaders have tried to reform the women's rights, the Iranian government always seems to return
to a state where women are inferior. Reza Shahs regime was the first to work to give women more
rights. Under Reza and eventually his son, Mohammad's rule from 1925-79, women reached what seem
to be the pinnacle of women's rights. For his time, Reza was quite a visionary and despite his heavy
Islamic upbringing was able to give women's certain rights like the right to education and even was able
to abolish the veil, symbolizing womens new entrance into a modern society. 4 However, with any
new laws, Reza and his gender equality ideology was meet with many disapproving glares from the
Islamic community. A couple years later Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, named himself supreme leader
of Iran granting himself far-reaching power after denouncing that the monarchy's recent reforms were in
violation of the principles of Shiite Islam.
Unlike Reza and Mohammad, Ruhollah strongly believed women were inferior to men and
returned women to their former position of 2nd class citizens. In 1961,Ruhollah said If the wife does
not obey the husbandshe is a sinner and has no right to clothing, food, and shelter. 5Iranian
4 http://www.ninaansary.com/resources/the-history-of-the-womens-movement-in-iran/
5 IDO

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women, were once again shrouded in restrictions. In the many years that followed various leaders tried
to modernize Iran, but all attempts were eventually shot down by successors. The current president of
Iran Hassan Rouhani claims he wants reform however all of the power lies in the hands of Irans
supreme leader Ali Khamenei. According to Humans Rights watch , A conservative newspaper that has
often supported the Ayatollah described the notion of "gender equality" as "unacceptable to the Islamic
Republic."6.Today, it is safe to assume that women will never achieve equality while Ruhollah or any of
his descendants/followers are in power or unless the Iranian government somehow becomes a secular
country.
III.

Modern Day Responses

While Irans current situation and potential for a brighter future seems bleak, other countries face
similar right violations and have been able to work past it. While the Middle East continues to
discriminate against women, other countries especially in Africa have started to make reforms to give
women some rights. Recently the World Health Association came in to help reform all laws allowing
mutilation of female genitalia. This a problem that affected almost 125 million girls. In Somalia this
practice was extremely brutal. It affected 90% of all women in Somalia. At a young age, girls would
have their genitalia sewn up only to be spliced open with a razor blade by their mother in laws on their
wedding night to allow sexual penetration.7 This practice was not endorsed by the government of
Somalia but nonetheless the government has consistently turned a blind eye to this issue until recently.
So while they were not encouraging this behavior in their country, their ignorance caused just as much
devastation. While Iran never reached this level of inhumanity at least Somalia worked to help resolve

6 "Women's Rights in Iran." Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
7 "2010 to 2015 Government Policy: Women and Girls in Developing Countries." - GOV.UK. Department of
International Development, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Gaylord 5
this problem. The World Health Organization was also able to step in and help the government illegalize
and outlaw this practice. However, despite the new law, it is predicted that 5 million girls will still be
exposed to gender mutilation in the next decade. The difference between Iran and Somalia being, that at
unlike Iran, Somalia was at least willing to reform some of its laws. If Iran was willing to reconsider or
at least come to accept its current situation , it could begin to take steps to eradicating some of its laws or
resolving other issues.
Aside from Somalia, Egypt has also been a country to make reforms in their laws about women.
While not medical, these laws in Egypt worked more with marriage equality. According to the UN, in
2005 Egypt granted women expanded divorce rights. This allowed women the right to a no-contest
divorce.8 However, the source goes on to say that a woman who exercises the write may lose her
dowry, alimony and other gifts given by the mans family, a serious deterrent for women with few
economic options.9 Despite Egypt's change in marital laws, their attempted law to allow women to
travel without permission was dropped by the government for fear of being too radical. If applied in
Iran, the no-contest divorce laws would likely benefit women heavily giving them a chance to escape
unhealthy relationships and overall, level the playing field a little more. Because marital equality is a big
bulk of the gender inequality in Iran this would be a big win for Iranian women and would allow women
to feel safe in their relationships. Like any new law, this would be met with disapproval from men, this
law would be widely accepted by women in Iran.
On, the contrary, there are some countries who fare much worse than Iran in their intolerance of
women. One law in Iran that has caused an upset is the ban on women at sports games. In Iran, women
are not allowed to attend sports games and are will face punishment if they sneak in to attend. In fact, a
8 Kimini, Mary. "Women in North Africa Secure More Rights | Africa Renewal Online." UN News Center. UN,
July 2008. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
9IDO

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dual Iranian/ British citizen, Ghoncheh Ghavami was arrested when she tried to attend a volleyball game
in Tehran.10 While this law has caused many petitions and protests, Iran is a fairly equal country when it
comes to letting women participate in sports games. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, does not even let
girls in state-funded schools take gym class, and prohibits women from going into stadiums to watch
men sports games. So, while it seems Iran has hit rock bottom, their are some things they should be
grateful for and that other countries could learn from.For those pushing for change in the Middle East
region, there is much work to be done to improve the lives of women.
IV.

Conclusion: Recommendations

In conclusion, the declaration on the Elimination of Violence against women by the UN

declaration of human rights article three says Women are entitled to the equal enjoyment and
protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural,
civil, or any other field.11. The Iranian government voted in favor of the declaration , yet the Iranian
government is not granting all their citizens all of the rights listed in its definition, especially dealing
with women's rights. In order to protect this right Iran needs to insert a female government
representative, put in more equal marital rights and re-examination of some of the laws to help balance
the currently uneven scales of gender equality.
To begin, the Iranian government should create a new position in their government as a sort of
representative for women. While the most recent president of Iran Hassan appointed some women into
the government as a good gesture, none of these women are solely meant to advocate for their
demographic. By putting in a female ambassador they could create more transparency with the public
10Sanei, Faraz. "Ghoncheh Ghavami: The Shifting Goal Posts of Iran's Hardliners." Human Rights Watch.
An Nahar, 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

11 "The Human Rights of Women: A Reference Guide to Official United Nations Documents: English." The
Human Rights of Women: A Reference Guide to Official United Nations Documents: English. The United
Nations, n.d. Web. 06 May 2016.

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and be able to put in newer more accurate laws that are for women. This would also keep any laws or
rash decisions from being made without the consideration of the effect on women. Even if not effective
this could work to calm the public. Because their is much heat in this topic the idea of some change and
progress may put many of the women at bay, and give the government a chance to clean up its act.
Because it leads to a big bulk of the inequality giving women a more equal value in marriage
would help improve Irans situation. Creating more martial laws to ensure equal and healthy
relationships is achievable and would greatly help women in Iran. Throughout her life, and Iranian
women is run by the men in her life. So, it seems only fair that once she be married that she be granted
more rights, so that women can start to be full fledged members of their own society. An example would
be creating a law that would allow women the right to a no-contest divorce. Because this law has no
direct political affiliation the government has no direct reason why not change it.
Finally a simple re-examination of some of their laws would be helpful for the government. Due
to the fact that the same supreme ruler has stayed in power for the past 3 decades, the rules are very
outdated and are not conducive to the time period we live in now. Even if no rules are directly changed,
a re-evaluation of the rules shows the iranian public that the government has the people's best interests at
heart and that they are willing to reform some laws. A particular law that could be re-examined is the
law banning women from sports stadiums and other public spectacles. This law has recently made
headcovers of many newspapers and tabloids. Women have staged many protests and signed numerous
petitions to reform this law, however no changes have been made. Eliminating this law would put to bed
all the recent outbreaks and calm the female population. So, while the day when women become equal
citizens may be far ahead in the future, at least the iranian government can take their first step in the
right direction.

Works Cited

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Dehghan, Saeed Kamali. "Husband Bars Iranian Footballer from Asian Championships." The Guardian.
Guardian News and Media, 16 Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016
Esfandiari, Haleh. "The Iran Primer." The Women's Movement. United States Institute of Peace, Aug.
2015.
Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Kimini, Mary. "Women in North Africa Secure More Rights | Africa Renewal Online." UN News Center.
UN,
July 2008. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Sanei, Faraz. "Ghoncheh Ghavami: The Shifting Goal Posts of Iran's Hardliners." Human Rights Watch.
An Nahar, 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.
"The Human Rights of Women: A Reference Guide to Official United Nations Documents: English." The
Human Rights of Women: A Reference Guide to Official United Nations Documents: English. The United
Nations, n.d. Web. 06 May 2016.

"Women's Rights in Iran." Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Apr.
2016.
"2010 to 2015 Government Policy: Women and Girls in Developing Countries." - GOV.UK. Department
of
International Development, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.