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Here’s a thread on the abuse against women the UN is practically condoning by allowing Iran onto its committee on women’s rights. From a woman who lived there. 1/?
1) men
Unless you’re a married woman, your father basically controls you. Fathers can legally stop you leaving the country if you’re unmarried, for example. Also, physical abuse by fathers is really common there – same applies for brothers, or men in general. 2/?
Unless you’re a married woman, your father basically controls you. Fathers can legally stop you leaving the country if you’re unmarried, for example. Also, physical abuse by fathers is really common there – same applies for brothers, or men in general. 2/?
Belting is very common. Physical abuse is just common full stop. Heck, even my (male) violin teacher threatened to flog me, a seven year old, at one point... 3/?
Though that’s nothing compared to having your throat slit. Dads are usually let off on weak sentences if they murder their daughters. My own threatened to shove me & my mum in a mincer if I ever got a boyfriend...
4/?
4/?
Unfortunately that sort of power imbalance also makes sexual abuse of children very common... You’re likely to get shunned by your family if you complain about it, and divorce for many mothers isn’t an option if they find out about it. 5/?
2) divorce
Men, as per Islam, have a unilateral right of divorce. They also decide whether you can work, or whether you can continued with further education. So many women have to live without financial independence, worried their husband will divorce them with only a dowry. 6/?
Men, as per Islam, have a unilateral right of divorce. They also decide whether you can work, or whether you can continued with further education. So many women have to live without financial independence, worried their husband will divorce them with only a dowry. 6/?
There is no welfare system in Iran, & you’re expected to go and live with your parents if you get divorced. Some families refuse to take back their daughters as they see divorce as a mark of shame, tainting a woman forever. 7/?
She’s blamed for not keeping her husband interested, or causing rifts and arguments. Not to mention she’s no longer a virgin, which is a pretty big deal for women in Iran... Many men won’t marry women who have lost their virginity. 8/?
A woman also loses the right to raise her child after it has reached a certain age — so, many mothers have to tolerate abuse & skip on divorce just to be with their children. Women do not have a unilateral right of divorce. 9/?
So if there is a problem and the husband does not want a divorce, she will have to prove him “faulty” in a long winded court process. She may not win it. If you prove abuse you can have a divorce, but often police won’t take you seriously if you do. They can be bribed. 10/?
3) corruption
The Police & judges in Iran are corrupt. Many of them can be bribed. And that’s not good news for women who, for reasons previously mentioned, don’t have financial independence. The husband can easily use money to pit the police or judge against them. 11/?
The Police & judges in Iran are corrupt. Many of them can be bribed. And that’s not good news for women who, for reasons previously mentioned, don’t have financial independence. The husband can easily use money to pit the police or judge against them. 11/?
4) hijab
Hijab is mandatory for women in Iran. You have to cover your hair before you leave the house. Failure to do this can result in a fine and/or prison sentence. There are many rules on the types of clothes you can & cannot wear, which don’t apply to men. 12/?
Hijab is mandatory for women in Iran. You have to cover your hair before you leave the house. Failure to do this can result in a fine and/or prison sentence. There are many rules on the types of clothes you can & cannot wear, which don’t apply to men. 12/?
You first begin wearing the hijab when you go to school, as it’s part of the uniform. Two years after, at the age of nine, you have your coming-of-age ceremony. That’s when you are expected to wear the hijab all the time. Age. Of. Nine. 13/?
Their reasoning is that the hijab stops men from looking at you & sinning. What man thinks about a NINE YEAR OLD like that? The modesty police enforces these rules by the way. 14/?
5) marriage
Okay, so marrying under the age of 18 is pretty common in Iran. The lowest age of marriage is actually 13, often to men much older (culturally men don’t marry that young) — this, to me, is the definition of forced marriage. 15/?
Okay, so marrying under the age of 18 is pretty common in Iran. The lowest age of marriage is actually 13, often to men much older (culturally men don’t marry that young) — this, to me, is the definition of forced marriage. 15/?
Proponents of the regime will say the girl needs to consent for the marriage to go ahead, but there is a reason why statutory rape exists. A 13 year old simply cannot consent to a marriage — she is not mature enough to do so. 16/?
Under the pressure of her family, where domestic violence against children is probably commonplace and she has no where else to run to without money or the law on her side, she will have no choice but to say “yes”. That’s not consent — there was never a choice. 17/?
These girls are not allowed to go to normal school, because they might tell other girls about marital affairs (basically, sex) and “taint” their minds before marriage. If their husband allows, they can go to night school. 18/?
6) marital rape
There is no such a thing as marital rape in Iran. You’re effectively the property of your husband, and he can use you as he pleases. So consenting to marriage in Iran is effectively considered consenting to sex-on-demand. Grim. 19/?
There is no such a thing as marital rape in Iran. You’re effectively the property of your husband, and he can use you as he pleases. So consenting to marriage in Iran is effectively considered consenting to sex-on-demand. Grim. 19/?
7) adultery
Women can get stoned for adultery. They bury you, with your head poking out, and throw stones until you die. For men it’s different because they have a caveat — not only can they have up to four wives, but they can also have an infinite number of temporary wives. 20/?
Women can get stoned for adultery. They bury you, with your head poking out, and throw stones until you die. For men it’s different because they have a caveat — not only can they have up to four wives, but they can also have an infinite number of temporary wives. 20/?
There is no registration required for temporary marriage, just some verses exchanged between the man & woman. So if a man is caught cheating, he can simply claim he was temporarily married to the person he was cheating with. 21/?
If a man kills his wife, and brings four male witnesses (or three male and two female) to say he’s done it because she cheated, he can escape the death penalty (which is normally the punishment for murder) and gets a much much lighter sentenced (or is even freed). 22/?
8) political prisoners
There is a belief which says virgin women will go to heaven, so if the state wants to send you to hell via an execution... Well, let’s just say women who were in these circumstances managed to get leaks out to their family — they said they were raped. 23/?
There is a belief which says virgin women will go to heaven, so if the state wants to send you to hell via an execution... Well, let’s just say women who were in these circumstances managed to get leaks out to their family — they said they were raped. 23/?
9) miscellaneous
Inheritance for girls is half that of their brother’s.
Compensation for killing a woman is less than compensation for injuring a man’s left testicle. I’m being serious.
Women need their husband’s permission to leave the country.
24/?
Inheritance for girls is half that of their brother’s.
Compensation for killing a woman is less than compensation for injuring a man’s left testicle. I’m being serious.
Women need their husband’s permission to leave the country.
24/?
This is obvs very personal to me. A real kick in the guts. For years of my childhood I was treated as a second-class citizen. Heck, if I stayed there I would have been married off as a child, & the same country which enabled it all is now on the UN Commission for Women’s Rights.
Wow this is so long... 26/26
