Nearly 35 years after the Islamic Revolution, gender
discrimination is still a challenging issue for Iran. On the one hand,
the situation for Iranian women has improved considerably in many
respects under the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). On the other, there
is a clear and seemingly impregnable ceiling for women in administrative
and government positions.
Iranian Women Under the Islamic Republic
In some ways, women have enjoyed significant gains under the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Nowhere is this more true than in education. In 1976,
on the eve of the Revolution, the
female literacy rate was
a mere 35 percent. Despite the turmoil of the revolution and the
imposed war with Iraq, by 1986 this rate had risen to 52 percent. Today,
Iranian girls between the ages of 15 and 24 enjoy
near universal literacy.
These gains are also reflected in education levels, which have
greatly improved as part of the IRI’s commitment to providing universal
education. For example, the female enrollment rate for primary education
institutions is actually higher than it is for males. Women also
graduate from their primary education programs at the same rate as their
male counterparts. And despite new restrictions on what they can study,
Iranian women are also strong participants in secondary education, with
the female general enrollment rate in secondary education about 86
percent of the male rate.
In many ways, the high female education rate also extends to
employment, especially since 1992 when the High Council of the Cultural
Revolution adopted a new set of employment policies for women. Although
women are unemployed at a rate of roughly twice that of men, one-third
of doctors, 60 percent of civil servants, and 80 percent of teachers in
Iran are women,
according to the British historian Michael Axworthy.
One area where Iranian women continue to face clear obstacles is in
the upper reaches of the Iranian government. For example, around 30
women signed up to run for president earlier this year, but the Guardian
Council – Iran’s constitutional watchdog – rejected their candidacies
based solely on gender. As Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdii, a conservative
cleric and member of the Guardian Council
explained at the time, the “law does not approve” of women running for president.
Women vs Clergy
Indeed, the clergy have long been the fiercest opponents of women
holding senior political positions, opposition that dates at least as
far back as to the Western-backed Shah’s regime. In fact, before the
Revolution, two women served as cabinet ministers under the
Amir-Abbas Hoveida
premiership. Even during that time, however, religious leaders used
their power to prevent these female ministers from playing crucial roles
in governing the country.
This competition between women seeking a senior role in public life
and conservative clergy opposition has continued during the Islamic
Republic. It’s been a long struggle, but Iranian women have continued to
chip away at many of the restrictions.
Although women served in parliament during the 1980s and early 1990s,
the taboo against a woman serving as an administrative official and in a
top management position was finally broken during the reform presidency
of Seyed Mohammad Khatami.
The reform period under Khatami in fact greatly enhanced
the role of women in public life. To begin with, he appointed Masoumeh
Ebtekar as vice president in charge of environmental protection, the
first time a woman had served as a vice president. Despite his
reputation as a hardliner, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad built on
Khatami’s record. For example, he initially tapped Marzieh
Vahid-Dastjerdi, a former parliamentarian who was close to Ahmadinejad,
to be his Minister of Health and Medical Education. This made her the
first woman to serve as a minister under the Islamic Republic.
Ahmadinejad went on to appoint five women as vice presidents during his
time in power.
Still, progress has been uneven. For instance, in December of last
year Ahmadinejad fired Vahid-Dastjerdi as the Minister of Health and
Medical Education. More recently,
Nina Siahkali Moradi
was elected to a seat on the city council in Qazvin, only to be
prevented from taking her position by religious conservatives who
disqualified her…for being too attractive. As Moradi’s case
demonstrates, progress aside, Iran still has a long way to go when it
comes to women’s rights in public life.
Prospects for the Rouhani Era
Some hope that the election of Hassan Rouhani as president of the
eleventh government will help further the rights of women in Iranian
public life. To date, there have been mixed signs.
On the one hand, Rouhani has chosen not to appoint any women to his Council of Ministers. In a speech last month
he explained
away this decision by remarking that he had not used women in any
ministerial positions due to the country’s “special conditions.” He
later stated that he did not believe that appointing a single woman as
government minister would result in gender equality.
On the other hand, the release of his all-male cabinet sparked sharp criticism and last month he appeared to
respond to this pressure
by making Elham Aminzadeh vice president for legal affairs. In
addition, he advised his male ministers to employ women in their
respective departments.
Perhaps more promising, in his election manifesto Rouhani promised to
establish a Ministry for Women. Some women's rights activists, such as
Fatemeh Rakei, a reformist MP, have come out in support of the proposal,
stating that it would help women’s rights issues receive more funds
from the government.
By contrast,
Shahla lahiji, a writer, publisher, translator and director of
Roshangaran – a prominent publishing house on women's issues –
believes
Rouhani should be bolder, stating: “Iran is not Afghanistan nor
Pakistan, the wishes of Iranian woman have been glossed over by having
only one woman in the Ministry and that’s all. If we take into account
the 50% of female university graduates, 40% of the official seats should
be filled by women in the near future whether the government wants it
or not.”
There have been other encouraging signs. For example, Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seems to have taken Rouhani’s advice to
appoint women to heart, naming
Marzieh Afkham,
former head of the Foreign Ministry’s Public Relations Department, the
first ever Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. Afkham, 48, is a career
diplomat and has been praised by her predecessor, Abbas Araqhchi,
who called her
"seasoned and experienced." Meanwhile, Farideh Farhi, a prominent Iran
expert at the University of Hawaii, called Zarif’s appointment of Afkham
an “extremely bold move.”
Zarif appears to have more such moves in store. According to reports,
he also plans to appoint Mansoureh Sharifi Sadr, currently the Foreign
Ministry's Director of the Women and Human Rights Department, as the
Islamic Republic’s first ever female ambassador. Already, Sadr has
served as Iran’s deputy ambassador to Japan. Moreover, according to
Abbas Araghchi, the former Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman, Zarif is also
considering another woman as Iran’s representative to the UN in Geneva,
although Araghchi refused to identify who the candidate was, instead
saying that her name would be announced later.
Women Representing Iran
Following these decisions, it is apparent that Rouhani and his
cabinet are sending a strong message to the rest of the world by
appointing women to government positions. Although no women are serving
in ministerial positions, they will are being appointed as Iran’s
diplomats. Therefore, they will become the face Iran shows to the rest
of the world.
This should improve Iran’s image abroad. For years, Iran has been
considered by many to be an egregious human rights violator, especially
when it comes to women and children’s rights. By appointing women to
diplomatic roles, Rouhani and his cabinet are increasing the respect
foreign nations have for Iran even as the president fulfills an
electoral promise to place women in his government.
In his inaugural address, Rouhani asked the world to “talk to Iran in
reverence not in treatment.” Female diplomats will undoubtedly help him
form relationships with the world based on mutual respect and peace.
This Article is Published in TheDiplomat Magazine originally.