Battered Women Exploited in the Clerical Regime’s Misogynistic Game Over Violence Prevention Bills in Iran
“Elimination of Violence against Women,” “Provision of Security for Women against Violence,” “Protection, Dignity, and Provision of Security for Ladies Against Violence,” “Protection of Dignity and Support for Women Against Violence,” and now “Preventing Women from Harm and Improving Their Security Against Abuse,” are all iterations of a single proposed bill in Iran. For more than 13 years, this bill has remained stalled. It occasionally resurfaces to pacify public opinion, only to be passed from one government body to another with no meaningful progress.
Some officials and members of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) openly oppose the bill. For example, the Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Judicial Commission has declared it contrary to the mullahs’ version of Iran, claiming it weakens family foundations. Similarly, Ensieh KhazAli, former Deputy for Women and Family Affairs under Ebrahim Raisi, dismissed the bill by asserting, “Violence is not prevalent in our families.” (Mehr News Agency, August 23, 2023)
Outrageous opposition like this, laden with misogynistic rhetoric, abounds. This article focuses on exposing the clerical regime’s false claims of supporting women.
The Fate of the Violence Against Women Bill
The original draft of the Elimination of Violence against Women was prepared in 2010 by certain judges and finalized in 2011 by the Directorate for Women and Family Affairs. It consisted of 92 articles.
When Hassan Rouhani’s administration (2013–2021) took office, the bill was sent to the Judiciary for review. The cleric-led Judiciary reduced it to 77 articles and renamed it the Bill on Protection, Dignity, and Provision of Security for Ladies Against Violence. This version was returned to the government.
The revised bill was then reviewed by a subcommittee of the government’s Legal Commission and sent back to Parliament. On November 27, 2017, the Vice Chairwoman of the Parliament’s Women’s Faction announced that additional time was needed for detailed review.
On July 14, 2020, the Rouhani administration claimed to have finalized the bill again, sending it to Parliament on January 14, 2021. Parliament acknowledged receipt of the bill on January 15, 2021. It was referred to the Parliamentary Judicial and Legal Commission on May 19, 2021.
By December 12, 2022, revisions were made, and the Social Commission of Parliament approved the bill. On April 9, 2023, the bill was further reduced to 51 articles and renamed the Bill on Preventing Women from Harm and Improving Their Security Against Abuse. The general framework of the bill was approved by Parliament. (Asr Iran, November 13, 2024)
Despite this protracted and exhausting process, the bill’s details and implementation remain unclear.
On November 12, 2024, the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ahmad Fatemi, a member of the mullahs’ Parliament, stating: “There are many bills and drafts; the turn for this bill is not near and will take time, but it is on the agenda.”
What’s in the Bill?
The clerical regime’s so-called women’s protection bill is riddled with shortcomings:
- Child Marriage: It fails to deter child marriages.
- Educational Rights: It does not prevent fathers from barring daughters from continuing their education.
- Divorce and Custody: It denies mothers the right to divorce or custody of their children.
The bill fundamentally does not acknowledge the existence of violence against women, including domestic violence. The term violence is notably absent from the text.
Article 1, under General Provisions, states that the bill’s measures are conditional upon compliance with Article 10 of the clerical regime’s Constitution, which emphasizes family preservation under the principles of the mullahs’ Sharia. Under these principles, the husband is explicitly recognized as the head of the family.
Article 4 stipulates that women’s legal complaints are subject to the regime’s Criminal Procedure Code, where a woman’s testimony is legally worth half or less than half of a man’s.
Misplaced Priorities
Under the section titled Support Measures, the bill allocates responsibilities to the Prison Organization. This focus bizarrely centers on regulating the punishment of imprisoned women rather than addressing penalties for male perpetrators of violence.
The bill reiterates provisions from the mullahs’ Penal Code, notorious for its discriminatory treatment of women.
For example, Article 34 superficially addresses forced marriage and divorce but simultaneously defers to Article 1041 of the Civil Code. This Civil Code allows fathers, grandfathers, or judges to determine a girl’s suitability for marriage—even below the age of 13.
Protecting the Perpetrators
The bill actively prioritizes preserving the family structure under the husband’s authority. It criminalizes actions such as women fleeing abusive homes, undergoing abortions, or seeking divorce while protecting male offenders.
Ultimately, Articles 42 and 43 explicitly protect perpetrators of violence, stating: “For discretionary offenses of degrees six, seven, and eight, if the perpetrator is the woman’s father, mother, or husband, the court may, considering ‘individual and familial circumstances,’ sentence the perpetrator to alternative penalties instead of the prescribed punishments.” It further stipulates that “Offenses committed by relatives of the woman up to the second degree are considered pardonable.” (Government-affiliated website Ekhtebar, April 8, 2023)
Systemic Barriers
Due to severe gender discrimination in the laws of the clerical regime, women often find themselves trapped in marriages with abusive men. Police are rarely willing to intervene in cases of domestic violence.
Family laws impose significant barriers to divorce for women, and even if a woman successfully obtains a divorce, she legally loses custody of children over the age of seven.
Abused women receive minimal support from government-affiliated organizations. In many cases, instead of addressing the violent circumstances of these women’s lives, these organizations focus on persuading them to return to their abusive households. (Asr Iran, November 13, 2024)
A sociologist and social psychologist explains: “Regarding homicide under the law, when a woman is killed by her father—for example, in the case of Romina’s murder by her father—when asked why he killed his daughter instead of his son, the father responds, ‘If I had killed my son, I would have faced capital punishment.’ In the case of other men, such as husbands, execution only occurs if the woman’s family agrees to pay half the blood money (diya).” (Alireza Sharifi Yazdi, ILNA News Agency, August 19, 2024)
A Harrowing Reality
Reliable statistics on violence against women in Iran are non-existent. However, the Legal Medicine Organization reported that 15,764 women sought medical attention for spousal abuse in the spring of 2024 (IRNA, November 12, 2024).
This figure likely underrepresents the true scale, as most cases remain unreported.
Recently, the murder of a female journalist by her husband—a lawyer—reignited public outcry. Zahra Behrooz-Azar, deputy for the Directorate for Women and Family Affairs, called for expedited approval of the bill, echoing the regime’s typical reactionary measures.
She, like her predecessors in this position, claimed that “The bill for protecting women’s security has been a priority on the government’s agenda since day one” and that “We have requested an expedited review of this bill.” (ILNA News Agency, November 13, 2024)
However, such claims have proven performative. A state-run newspaper, Etemad, wrote on November 10, 2024: “Had the government and Parliament acted on implementing this law, today’s appalling femicide statistics could have been avoided.”
Earlier this year, Etemad reported that over 150 women were killed in the first six months of 2024 by their husbands, fathers, brothers, or other male relatives.
Experts estimate that in Iran, a woman is killed by a male relative every four days. Meanwhile, every four minutes, a woman suffers psychological harm—incidents that go unreported and unregistered (ILNA, August 19, 2024).
This article illustrates the systemic failure of the Iranian regime to protect women. The deeply ingrained misogyny in its laws perpetuates violence, leaving countless women vulnerable and unsupported.
