A freedom rally for Iran in Auckland's Aotea Square in October 2022. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
OPINION:
As Wednesday marks International Women’s Day, it’s a chance to reflect on the issues facing women here and abroad.
Iranian New Zealander Samira Taghavi is a lawyer and in her capacity as spokeswoman for Woman, Life, Freedom New Zealand, she’s putting on an event at the Auckland District Law Society on Wednesday to raise awareness of the harms against Iranian women.
For context, protests erupted across the Islamic Republic in September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was beaten by Guidance Patrol officers for violating Iran’s mandatory hijab law.
In October, the Government announced it would suspend its bilateral human rights dialogue with the Republic.
In December, Iran was removed from the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women as a result. The UN Economic, Social and Cultural Council voted by 29 votes to eight, with 16 abstentions.
In a public statement at the time, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand was proud to have played a leading role in the efforts to remove Iran from the commission.
“The removal of Iran from the commission is the right outcome. It was no longer appropriate for them to remain a member, given the degradation of the human rights situation there in recent months and the ongoing violence against women and girls,” Ardern said.
The Government’s stance on Iran aside, let’s look at the legislative framework affecting women in Iran.
While Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran guarantee equal protection of men and women, these are subject to “the Islamic criteria”, which are implemented by authorities. The below laws are also inconsistent with some international conventions Iran has ratified.
While there are no limits on the right to vote or enter politics, the Guardian Council disqualified 60 per cent of women candidates for the February 2020 parliamentary elections, with just 16 of 290 seats being won by women. Women are ineligible to become judges.
Under the Civil Code, a girl may be legally married at 13 lunar years (February 12 - January 31), while boys can marry at 15. It was lowered from 18 to 13 in 1979 and then to 9 in 1982 and then raised to 13 in 2002. Girls may marry younger in the instance their father, grandfather, or a judge agrees.
According to official figures, between March 2020 and March 2021, the marriages of 31,379 girls aged between 10 and 14 were registered, representing a 10.5 per cent increase over the previous year. A survey found 37.5 per cent of those subjected to child marriage were illiterate and a significant number reported domestic abuse.
Iranian law requires a woman to receive permission from her father or paternal grandfather to marry, unless it is withheld unreasonably as determined by a court. Muslim women are legally prohibited from marrying non-Muslim men and marriages between Iranian women and non-Iranian men require government permission.
According to the report, Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued to the UN general assembly in 2021, a husband may prevent his wife from taking up employment he considers incompatible with family interests or his dignity. He must consent when a wife is obtaining a passport or travelling abroad.
Iranian law allows polygamy and a wife may be entitled to maintenance, but this is contingent upon fulfilling “duties”, including responding to the husband’s sexual needs.
Husbands have an incontestable right to divorce, while wives must apply to court seeking divorce on limited grounds such as addiction, imprisonment, or failing to provide financial support. In the event a divorce is granted, a mother has physical custody of children until age 7, then it is transferred to the father. Custody is automatically lost by the mother if she remarries.
Under the Iranian penal code, criminal responsibility applies to girls at 9 lunar years, and boys at 15.
Article 550 of the Penal Code states the amount of “diya” (blood money) paid as compensation for a woman victim is half that of a man. While in July 2019 a Supreme Court ruling found the discrepancy would be paid by a government fund, the discriminatory provision remains. It means the state values a woman’s life as a fraction of that of a man’s.
To add insult to injury, a woman’s testimony in legal proceedings is half of the evidentiary value of a man’s.
Sexual assault is not criminalised as a distinct crime under the Penal Code. And adultery, which includes the death penalty, means women may find themselves before a court if they can’t meet the high evidentiary threshold to prove the act was coercive.
The Government approved the long-standing bill “Defending dignity and protecting women against violence” in 2021 after regressive amendments by the judiciary.
While the bill established safe houses, special police units, and a national working group to tackle violence against women and girls, it fails to criminalise marital rape, child marriage, or define domestic violence as a separate offence. Instead, the bill prioritises reconciliation over accountability.
The situation in New Zealand may be different and better in many respects but by no means is it perfect. Just last week I spoke before an audience about section 36(c) of the Broadcasting Act, for example.
The section aims to ensure there is a range of broadcasts available to provide for the interests of women, youth, children, persons with disabilities, and minorities in the community including ethnic minorities.
Following the 45-minute presentation, one of the 200-odd audience members said it lacked the male perspective. The presentation would have been more palatable had I been a man, they said. I choked as I laughed.
If micro-aggressions don’t do it for you, as of November, the 9.2 per cent pay gap means women work unpaid for 34 days a year. For Māori and Pasifika women, the situation is worse, working for free for 58 days a year.
These bleak figures and laws at home and abroad are something to remember as we celebrate International Women’s Day this Wednesday.