The silent revolution of women in Iran

Iran

A woman in Iran has a very small role to play in society. It would help if you took care of your family and all the house chores. You have no say in what affects you both physically and mentally. There are many rules and regulations put in place to discriminate against women against their rights for more maryam-rajavi.com.

A mistake as simple as taking off your headscarf can land you in jail or force you to exile if you are an Iranian woman. Women are struggling every day to regain their lost glory, but it is to no avail. They have their rights as citizens and their roles in the community at large. The country’s regime is hostile towards women in Iran. The rules are so hostile that you cannot live your life freely as a woman. There are so many things that you are prohibited to do as a woman and it really affects how a person lives her life.

In households, it is no different. Women are at the mercy of men in their families due to Family Protection Laws enacted under the monarchy. Women hardly get any political positions such as in parliament, cabinet, and city councils. Women were under the support of the Iran opposition leader as they have a manifesto that favours women. Women rights are not exercised in Iran because of the current system that does not allow you to live according to your own beliefs

Overview of the Revolution

During the Pahlavi era (1925-1979), the Iran opposition saw that women made progress and that both men and women could receive free education. After they won the petition under the Family Protection Law, it was always in favour of men. When the first university in Iran opened in 1936, both men and women gained admission. Women got the right to vote and vie for political seats as well.

Women were able to file for divorce and gain child custody in the event. A husband did not have ultimate power over their wives anymore. Girls could get married when they attain the age of 18 and not 13 as initially. Men were forced to seek the court’s permission when they needed to take a second wife. This revolution gave women power and at least they had to exercise some rights although not all had a law.

In 1978, on the eve of the Iranian revolution, twenty-two women won elections in parliament and three hundred and thirty-three more women got seats on the elected local councils. A third of the university students were female, over 146,000 worked as civil servants and two million women joined the workforce. All these took place even though they faced opposition in Iran. They had something going on for women and this was a small start but it really motivated many that women will have a voice in the future.

Even though the revolution politicised a mass of Iranian women, the new theocracy system in 1979 destroyed everything women had worked so hard to fight against. They lost positions in the government. All women, including girls in the first grade, had to wear their hejab and maintain their Islamic dress code. The system turned against them women had worked hard to have their voice heard in their country their impact in the society dropped and they lost almost everything they went back to the mercies of men