[R-G] Iranian Women’s Rights Advocates Score Stunning Victory

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1223&Itemid=2>
Iranian Women's Rights Advocates Score Stunning Victory
Rebecca Schiel
Sep 04, 2008

Washington DC - After experiencing severe criticism and opposition
from women's rights advocates, the "Family Protection Bill" was sent
indefinitely back to the Judiciary Commission of the Iranian
Parliament. It looks as though in this battle, Iran's women's rights
activists have been triumphant.

The bill was originally introduced in last August and was passed in
July of this year before being sent back to the parliament for further
reconsideration due to considerable protest from women's rights
activists.

In a shift from the polygamy laws of the past which allowed a man to
have up to four wives as long as there was consent from the first
wife, this new bill did away with that restriction. Article 22
provides for temporary marriages without registration, a move which
would leave both women and the children who are products of these
marriages bereft of both legal and financial protection under the law.
According to experts, articles 23 and 24 are financially
discriminatory in that they tax the dowry that a woman is paid upon
marriage and they do not require a husband to have the financial
resources necessary before taking another wife. Amid other
stipulations, this bill would make it more difficult for women to
secure a divorce and it would become criminal for a woman to marry a
foreigner without the necessary approval.

In what has been described as a stunning victory for Iran's women's
movement, the Majlis has agreed to consult with women's rights
activists before resubmitting the changed bill to parliament.

Iran, however, remains one of the few states that have not signed the
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW).. Iran stands out even when compared to its neighbors in
that regard - countries such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Egypt are
all signatories of CEDAW.