August 6, 2021: The Impact of Islamic Revolution on Women’s Right in Iran by Niki Azizi
In 1931, during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925-1941) in Iran, a family law was instituted that had wide ramifications concerning women’s right to marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance. This law was incorporated into Iran’s ostensibly secular civil code. This supposed “secularity” of the civil code needs to be qualified, however. Reza Shah indeed attempted a reform project that included secularizing the Iranian state. This included certain symbolic regulations concerning women, such as forced unveiling, which was believed to help modernize Iranian society. Nonetheless, in designing the new civil code and the new family law, Shi’ite clerics were included in the commission tasked with reviewing the proposed laws and were charged with ensuring their compatibility with Islamic law (shari’a). This resulted in a collection of laws that were influenced by highly traditionalist reading/interpretation of Islamic law. Therefore, it is safe to say that while the legal system was secular in form, its content was informed by prevalent religious attitudes and beliefs, and this was especially true with regard to family law in general and women’s rights in particular.
During the early reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, (1941-1963), he attempted to provide a platform for women and make some changes in the family law that would not lose him the support of Iran’s clerical establishment (‘ulama) that had gained a great deal of social and political power in that time. Later women’s rights activists had a more significant political influence, including in the White Revolution, and therefore had more chances to promote women’s legal status. Between 1963 and1975, a great deal of changes were made to the family law regarding women’s rights, which were enacted under a project entitled the Family Protection Law (FPL). This project attempted to reform the status of Iranian women’s legal rights and to move the law toward greater equality. The reforms enacted by this project included new restrictions on polygymy, women could initiate divorce, run for office, inherit property. Importantly, this law also enabled women to gain custody of their children following a divorce upon court’s approval, which under the Islamic law, the custody of the children had primarily been a privilege of the father. This law also raised the legal age of marriage to 18. However, since the law was just established and that combined with the lack of awareness about these policies, while this reform practically changed women status from the higher class of the society, women from middle class or lower class were still not affected by these changes.
Also, immediately prior to the 1979 revolution, many Shi’ite clerics including the Ayatollah Khomeini raised concerns regarding the Family Protection Law and labeled it as a Westernized reform project that would ultimately destroy family values and respect for women in Iranian society. Women and their rights therefore became one of the main foundations of criticizing the Pahlavi dynasty, and a main drive for the Islamic revolution. It is noteworthy to mention that many liberals joined the anti-monarchist movement and supported Khomeini out of a common desire to oppose the Pahlavi shah and build a new political system. Even women who did not have strict Islamic beliefs or did not believe in instituting an Islamic state used the full-length Islamic covering (chador) as a symbol of their opposition and would wear it in various protests, in the hope that when they overthrew the monarchy their idea will be realized by Khomeini. However, in the years following the revolution, from 1980-1983, the new Islamic Republic started to suppress and eliminate the other parties, which were considered contrary to the ‘Islamic’ character of the revolution, which was based in a conservative religious understanding of Iranian culture. Regarding women’s rights, one of the first steps of the revolutionary government in 1980 was to annul the Family Protection Law, and to redefine women’s family status and duties in the new constitution. Therefore, despite some advancements for women in some areas, such as greater access to education and healthcare after the revolution, according to the new family law women were generally deprived of many of their basic rights. For example, the new laws granted the following: polygamy for men, child marriage,[1] the father or guardian’s control of the first marriage, default of custody in favor of the father or the father’s family and granting the right to divorce for men but not women. Women could no longer serve as judges and were dismissed or hounded out from many governmental and professional positions due to their gender. By law, husbands retain primary control over domestic affairs. Across the country, particularly in its more remote and impoverished areas, many women struggled and continue to struggle with normalized patterns of coercion, physical violence, and marital rape, which is currently not a recognized crime in Iranian law. Additionally, the Iranian government engages in repression of any NGOs or activists who voice concerns about such discrimination or attempt reforms.
When questioned by the international community, the Islamic Republic continues to justify these discriminatory policies with reference to national values and its official interpretation of shari’a. While women’s rights activists have been successful in raising public awareness and making minimal reforms in the family law by offering a new interpretation of shari’a, they have nonetheless been unable to make drastic changes in women’s legal status. It should be noted, however, that women’s legal status does not necessarily determine their social status or the popular attitudes toward gender. In recent decades, activists have sought to voice their concerns via peaceful protests against state repression but have faced an apparent escalation in official surveillance and intimidation. The most recent demands of women involve putting an end to compulsory hijab. The campaign against forced veiling has, however, resulted in physical attacks, detention, and prosecution, with some high-profile activists and lawyers being handed lengthy prison sentences.
I believe the reason for this much resistance of the government toward reforming women’s rights especially regarding compulsory hijab is not mainly religious, because if we review the religious content the hijab was primarily related to modesty and morality. During and after the revolution, however, the hijab transformed into a religio-political issue and emerged as a symbol of power of Islamic Republic. Consequently, the government is primarily concerned that reforming women’s rights, including making hijab optional for women, will mean that they lost the core reason of existence and ultimately might degrade their legitimacy even further.
References:
“How Iran’s Women Are Using Their Hijabs to Fight the Regime.” Accessed August 13, 2021. https://nypost.com/2020/02/01/how-irans-women-are-using-their-hijabs-to-fight-the-regime/.
Kar, Mehrangiz, and Golriz Farshi. “Focusing on Women in the Internal Politics of Iran.” The Brown Journal of World Affairs 15, no. 1 (2008): 75–86.
Keddie, Nikki R. “Women in Iran Since 1979.” Social Research 67, no. 2 (2000): 405.
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. “The Conservative–Reformist Conflict Over Women’s Rights in Iran.” International Journal of Politics, 2002, 17.
“Nasrin Sotoudeh: Iran Lawyer Who Defended Headscarf Protesters Jailed.” BBC News, March 11, 2019, sec. Middle East. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47531312.
[1] Eventually the minimum age for brides would be set at nine years old.
