The human rights environment for women in Iran continues to be characterized by inequality and exclusion. Iran is one of just six UN member states that have not signed the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women,
and its national legislation enshrines many barriers to accessing basic rights in areas such as employment, marriage, and citizenship. These issues are especially pronounced for minority women, who often face intersectional discrimination on account of their ethnic and religious identity.
The secondary status of women is reflected not only in their limited representation in the country’s politics and judiciary but also in their own homes, as by law husbands retain primary control over domestic affairs. Across the country, particularly in its more remote and impoverished areas, many women struggle with normalized patterns of coercion, physical violence, and marital rape – a crime currently unrecognized in Iranian law.
Iranian law vaguely defines what constitutes an act against morality, and authorities have long censored art, music, and other forms of cultural expression, as well as prosecuted hundreds of people for such acts. These laws often disproportionally target women.
Women in Iran will continue to experience marginalization, violence, and repression without a wide-ranging, transformative process of reform within the country. This should address not only the inequitable legal frameworks surrounding issues such as employment, political participation, personal security, and other freedoms but also the broader social hierarchies within communities, families, and households that uphold discrimination against women.
Shocking confession about women’s who lives in pits and water canals
Mohammad Reza Mahboubfar, a government expert, admitted on 22 June, that in Iran there are women who live in pits and canals and said: “Some female-headed households live in ruins, dilapidated buildings, pits, and canals because they are homeless, and some of them, who are slum or tent dwellers, have poor housing.”
He added: “In the past, the number of marginalized people was said to be around 25 million, but today it has risen to 38 million. We can even boldly say that marginalization in Tehran has increased by 60%.”
Referring to women heads of households, Mahboubfar said: “The number of women heads of households in the country has also increased, and these people are facing many problems in the shadow of marginalization and inflation, and in their livelihood, especially housing.”
“Some of these women, who are forced to flee to the outskirts of the city, are severely threatened by harms such as violence against women, addiction, selling babies, and immoral ways. Women heads of households live mostly in the suburbs, southeast, and southwest of Tehran and around cemeteries, in Islamshahr, Pakdasht, Varamin, etc.”
“In Tehran and many other cities, land and housing prices have risen by as much as 500 percent (five times). Under these circumstances, less able and vulnerable people who are unable to afford the poverty line and livelihood basket have been pushed to the outskirts of cities. In the city of Tehran, you can see that many people are marginalized, and the movement of passengers in the Tehran subway to the outskirts of the city confirms this.”
He added: “Monthly salaries of most of the marginalized workers of day laborers, seasonal workers, vendors, etc., before the outbreak of Corona, was 8 million Tomans to compensate the poverty line. But today, many of these people have lost 70 to 80 percent of their salaries, and it is natural that these people will be marginalized to provide their housing and shelter from the city center. Some of the suburbs are slums, others are tents, and some are unsuitable and non-standard houses.”
Source » irannewsupdate