Marriage laws are a clear example of the difference in treatment between men and women. After the 1979 revolution, one of the first changes was the lowering of the age at which girls could marry. The age dropped from 18 to 9 years. In 2002, parliament raised the age to 13, but the father or paternal grandfather can authorize an earlier marriage. On the other hand, children can only marry after the age of 15.
A Muslim can marry a woman of another religion, but the same is not allowed for Iranian women. In marriage, the woman has to be obedient so that the husband gives her money for the house, clothes, food and furniture.
When it comes to applying for a passport or traveling, Iranian women need their husband’s permission. Only in very exceptional situations can the state circumvent the ban. This was the case, for example, with Zahra Nemati, a two-time Paralympic champion, who was allowed to participate in a competition abroad despite the fact that her husband did not authorize the trip.
In the event that things do not go well, the man only needs to say that he wants a divorce for that to happen, while the woman has to go to court and prove that her husband has a mental illness, is an alcoholic or a drug addict. or he is abusive. . The other exception is if he is sentenced to more than five years in prison.
In separation, the woman takes custody of the children until they are 7 years old and then hands them over to the father. In the event of the death of the father, the children are handed over to the paternal family. As for her inheritance, the woman is only entitled to an eighth of her husband’s assets, while he is entitled to 100%. Among children, boys inherit twice as much as girls.
Compared to the judicial system, equality does not exist either. Assault on a man carries a more severe penalty than if the victim is a woman. The testimony of an Iranian woman is worth half that of a man and they are criminally responsible from the age of 9, while they are only criminally responsible from the age of 15.
The dress code requires Iranian women to dress modestly from puberty onwards. At the age of 13, they began to be forced to wear a hijab, a scarf that covered their hair. Any woman who breaks the hijab law is severely punished, as are her relatives. The best-known case is that of Nasrin Sotoudeh, who in March 2019 was sentenced to 38 years in prison for having defended a woman protesting against the use of the headscarf as a lawyer.
Since September, after Mahsa Amini died in customs police custody, women and men have taken to the streets, first for the hijab, but later to demand more rights for women, freedom and regime change. Despite the repression, assassinations and threats from the revolutionary guards, thousands of people continue to defy the authorities.
Source: TSF
