Following a June 12 protest for women's rights in Tehran that was brutally attacked by police, Green Left Weekly spoke to an Iranian feminist, Roshan (not her real name), about the situation facing women in Iran and the battle for women's rights.
Police used tear gas and beat protesters before the demonstration at Tehran University even began. More than 70 people were arrested. After the protest some of Roshan's friends were called in by security officers and asked to write and sign statements that they would "never repeat feminist activities". The police "asked them to confirm my name as a feminist who tries to gather more people in the street ... Is being feminist criminal? Why don't they make men promise not to distress women?"
Roshan said herself and other feminists are calling for the banning of polygamy; equal divorce rights; equal child custody rights for both parents; equal rights in marriage; an increase in the legal age at which children are considered adults to 18 (currently it is nine years for girls and 15 years for boys); for equal value to be placed on women's testimonies in court; and for the elimination of temporary work contracts, "which disproportionately and negatively impact on women".
Roshan told GLW that when she sought a divorce four years ago, "The authorities asked me to bring my parents as witnesses. In fact they asked for my father's permission".
"Throughout our entire lives we are forced to depend on our fathers', and then on our husbands' permission. If a woman wants to get a passport and if she is not married her father must give his official permission. If she is married, her husband's official permission is required ... We must obey our fathers and our brothers. The law supports them."
The problem is worse in the smaller cities, Roshan said. "There, many girls are made to marry at a very young age; some even marry when younger than 13, which is the official age for girls to marry. However, in our opinion that is too young."
A man has the right to prevent his wife from leaving the house and "a woman has no right to select the place of her home. The role of a woman is being a housewife and mother. Moreover, mothers have no right over their children. When women do get a divorce, mothers seldom get the right of custody over their children ... If her husband dies, her father-in-law is responsible for the children. There are many cases where a woman loses both her husband and her children — for example, when her husband dies, her children are taken by her family-in-law, especially if she wants to marry again. If the grandfather dies, the mother must get a government licence if she wishes to travel overseas with her children."
Roshan described how women are prevented from going to Tehran's main sports stadium, Azadi, to watch football games. While there is no law preventing women from attending matches, and Iran's president has stated that women are permitted to attend, religious leaders have said "it is not Islamic for women to go to the stadium and watch the naked legs of men", Roshan said. However, she added, women have insisted on attending and recently sat at the back door of the stadium before they were surrounded by police who beat some of the women and stole their cameras. "You know, most of us don't like football very much. But, the government should know, we want our social rights." As they left they chanted "Azadi, we'll be back!"
Roshan said that "for several years we have begun to protest against these laws and this culture. We have gathered in the streets several times to ask for the right for a woman to be selected as a president and for changing the laws, to get equal rights for women."
From Green Left Weekly, July 26, 2006.
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