Iran May Soon Outlaw Sexual Violence Against Women

Iran is on the verge of passing a landmark law that will take action to outlaw sexual violence against women. According to the New York Times, the Protection, Dignity and Security of Women Against Violence bill penalizes varying forms of violence and sexual misconduct, ranging from coercing a woman into sex to sending unsolicited sexual messages. Al Jazeera reports that the bill defines violence as “any behavior inflicted on women due to sexuality, vulnerable position or type of relationship, and inflicts harm to their body, psyche, personality and dignity, or restricts or deprives them of legal rights and freedoms.”

The bill notably brings together disparate parts of the Iranian government to improve women’s safety and wellbeing, according to Al Jazeera. Under the law, Iran’s judiciary will have offices supporting survivors of violence, judges and their staff must attend educational courses, and the ministry of health must expand psychological services to victims and training for the staff working with them.

The bill’s advocates noted that, while it passed the cabinet, lawmakers watered down the bill to give it any chance of passing in Iran’s deeply conservative Parliament. If it succeeds there, it will be reviewed by the Guardian Council, which is made up of jurists and religious experts, before it becomes law.

While the bill fails does not criminalize marital rape or child marriage, women’s advocates see it as a stepping stone to more sweeping legislation. “I think this is a step forward because it gives us a general law for protecting women that we can build on and amend,” Tehran-based lawyer Shima Ghoosheh told the Times.

This law is one example of a recent, broader cultural push to address Iran’s systemic sexual violence against women, which was catalyzed by high-profile honor killings — or murders usually perpetrated by men against women who bring “dishonor” on their family by committing “sexually immoral acts. In countries with strict, sexist behavioral codes, a woman can face an honor killing for divorcing her husband, having sex outside of marriage, or even being a rape victim. The New York Times reported that a 2019 study conducted by a research center with ties to the Iranian military found that 30% of all murders in the country were honor killings.

One recent high-profile honor killing case involved 14-year-old Romina Ashrafi, who was murdered by her father last May after running off with her adult boyfriend. Before Ashrafi was murdered, she was brought before a judge by police who arrested her for eloping and pleaded not to be sent home because she feared her father would kill her. In fact, The Guardian reported that Ashrafi ran away with her boyfriend to escape torment and abuse from her father. Many, including Ashrafi’s mother, were understandably furious when Ashrafi’s father received only a nine-year prison sentence for his crime. As a point of comparison, a woman who refuses to wear a hijab could receive an even longer jail sentence than Ashrafi’s father did.

“As long as the current laws discriminating against girls and empowering abusive parents exist, unfortunately the cycle of violence will continue,” Iranian journalist Masih Alenejad tweeted in response to Ashrafi’s case. “You know who the real murderer is? It's the Islamic Republic of Iran and its gender apartheid that enjoys the misery of young girls,” she added.

While Iranian women wait for justice, Alenejad’s words indicate that the law proposed offers a glimmer of hope, as it marks change at the source of inequality. We can only hope this glimmer of hope grows into the dawn of a new era.