“Exclusion of women from decision-making centers has created a futile cycle which ultimately leads to political violence against them,” said Tooran Vali-Morad, secretary of Women’s Islamic Coalition in Iran.
Vali- Morad said when there is talk of women’s participation in the decision-making processes, their lack of experience and absence in the previous stages of the power cycle become subject of debate. She added, “Following up on women’s demands is not a serious matter for men and the female parliamentarians, too, are not familiar with women’s issues but follow the agenda set by their political parties.”
Vali-Morad said in her opinion, the presidential deputy directorate on women’s affairs has moved along a wrong path in 27 years since its inception. She said there has never been any specific program for women under any government, including the present one. She added, “For this reason, the problems related to families have remained unsolved and keep being repeated. The government does not present any plans, rather in the name of moderation, it has turned itself into an incorporation whose shares belong to a specific political force.”
Vali-Morad further revealed, “Ever since the 11th government took office, the obligation of every ministry to have an advisor on women’s affairs was lifted and it was left up to the minister to decide whether to have an advisor. Therefore, this post was practically removed or kept with limited powers. So now, some ministries do not have any advisor on women’s affairs.”
She also criticized the government for not allocating any annual budget to women’s affairs. “It has been two years now, that the women’s 1 per cent budgetary allocation has been removed. In 2014, the government did not have any defensible plan in the women’s area and the parliament did not agree with their budget. In 2015, the government did not allocate any budget because they did not believe in doing so.”
(State-run Iran-e Zanan Network website, Sep. 1, 2015)
