We strongly condemn appalling women’s rights condition in Iran!
We strongly condemn appalling women’s rights condition in Iran!
The Islamic Republic of Iran has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and does not recognize violence against women in its laws. As a result of systematic, widespread discriminatory laws, women face a wide range of violence, both in their domestic lives and in the public realm, without any legal protections. Iran is currently ranked 140 out of 144 countries for gender equality according to the Global Gender Gap Report.
In the last year, women’s rights condition in Iran has deteriorated. Alarming rates of acid attacks targeting young women for not being properly dressed is deeply concerning. The Islamic regime has done nothing to arrest the suspects or pass laws to prevent this from happening. On the contrary, authorities warned the media and the journalists over their coverage of the attacks and arrested protesting women’s rights activists.
Horrific cases of a so-called “Honor” killings took the lives of several women last year. Very recently, gruesome beheading of Romina, a 14-year-old girl, by her father put a spotlight on this frequently practiced killing in Iran, which are rooted in patriarchal laws, underreported and often hushed up by the officials. There are no official records on honor killings in Iran, however according to the academic articles every year around 450 such killings occur in Iran. These women are mostly killed by their male relatives, including their husbands, fathers, and brothers in the name of protecting the family’s “honor”.
Despite all the senseless brutality, Iranian government continues to publicly confront and arrest women failing to properly observe modest Islamic covering. Last year dozens of women, fed up with their second-class status, refused to obey the compulsory hijab in public as a sign of protest. They were sentenced to a combined 55 years in prison for peacefully protesting mandatory hijabs.
Women’s rights are in great jeopardy in the Islamic Republic and the lack of support from the social, legal, and judicial systems raises our concern that underreporting masks the real prevalence of violence against women. Women and Gender Equality Committee of the Union for Secular Republic and Human Rights in Iran (USRHR) urges the international community to put pressure on the Islamic republic of Iran in accordance with the international laws to fulfill its obligations within the framework of civil and political rights conventions.
Union for Secular Republic and Human Rights in Iran (USRHR)
Women and Gender Equality Committee
November 9, 2020
