Women's Rights In Iran

“Women in particular know that their government deprives them of freedoms that women elsewhere take for granted” (Downing 28). The women of Iran have had a difficult history of fighting for change. One of the few rights these women have earned is the right to vote. In 1963, they were able to gain the right to vote due to the increase of women’s movements around the world. Iran’s women’s movement has become one of the most well known in the last two decades (Price 336). However, they still continue to battle with limitations the country has placed on them, such as the ability to travel or who they are allowed to be seen with in public. Due to the different leaders throughout Iran’s history, women have had rights given and taken away from them, …show more content…
One author states, “As an example, the law permitted men to have four permanent and as many temporary wives as they wanted” (Haugen 213). In an Iranian marriage, the men make the decisions while the women normally do not have a say in many things. Even to travel outside the country, the wife must have been given permission by the husband since an ID is not required. Not only does the permission needed by the husband play a major role in why this is an issue, but also the superiority men have over women. As an example of male superiority, if an Iranian man were to have a child from any woman, their child would automatically become a citizen of Iran. In contrary, if a woman has a child from a man who is not Iranian, their child would not be qualified for a citizenship in Iran. Even with this being an issue they have tried to confront, these women have been unable to make much progress. About the only progress they have made with this is issue is the law they were able to get passed in the late 1970’s which orders married men to get permission from the permanent wife or wives in order for them to have another permanent wife. Although this law, known as the the family protection law does not concern of obtaining a temporary wife (Haugen …show more content…
According to one source, “So if the couple were divorced, even after the death of the father, the mother would not get custody” (Haugen 213). While Iran was under the Shah’s rule, the Islamic Sharia Law was established. This law stated that the custody of children was the responsibility of the father and if the father were to die, the responsibility would be given to the father’s male relatives. (Haugen 213). Though women have earned few rights over this issue by getting Parliament to pass a law that earned them some custody after a divorce. Yet, this law only applies to them if the father were to be a drug addict, alcoholic, or “morally corrupt” (Berlatsky 118). Despite the fact that this is one issue that women all over Iran, of very social class and even the religious, have begun to fight for, more need to join in to be able to end it (Haugen