From Bad to Worse and Beyond…
Massive opposition to “Family Protection Bill”
The Discriminatory Family law in Iran is on the Brink of taking few steps Back!
“ Family Protection Bill “ passed swiftly and quietly in the first round of discussion in the legal and judicial commission of the Iranian parliament in July 2008 almost one year after it was drafted. The opposition to this bill has brought one of the largest coalition being forms to protest a bill in recent years. An inclusive and strikingly diverse group of women activists, feminists, human rights defenders and many secular as well as religious groups including some conservative and fundamentalist women groups are opposing this bill and demanding the government of Ahmadinejad to take action and prevented from being presented to the parliament for the final vote.
The bill is a gross violation of human rights of Iranian women, reinforce the current discriminatory laws and creates an encouraging environment for polygamy while women’s movement demand banning it, reinforce the unequal divorce laws and makes the process more complicated and challenging for women to file for divorce, while women’s movement demand equality in divorce laws, removes the requirement to register “ temporary marriage” rather than banning it completely, suggest taxation for dowry ( Mehr ) which traditionally played a role in providing a fragile financial safety net for women rather than recognizing the rights of Iranian women to equal access to resources and creating an encouraging environment for participation in workforce to ensure economic security and finally the bill not only remove the barriers and respect the rights of Iranian women to marry a foreign national, rather brings more complexity to the life of Iranian women even stipulate punishment for the “ crime” of marrying a foreign national.
Although there are many speculations on why this bill passed at this time, some argue that it is the response of Iranian regime to the inspiring and powerful women movement in Iran to change discriminatory laws including polygamy while others claim that the patriarchs in position of power decided that the threat of US military strike against Iran creates an environment of uncertainty which combined with the economic crisis, political and social repression, gave an ample opportunity to the patriarchs in position of power in Iran to bring the “ Anti Family Bill” to the public discourse.
The bill was drafted and discussed in the previous Iranian parliament The discriminatory content of the bill enraged many human rights activist and women NGOs in Iran.
Article 23 is one of the most debated article of the proposed bill. It states “ Marriage to a subsequent permanent wife shall depend on court authorization upon ascertainment of the man’s financial capability and undertaking to uphold justice among his wives”. Article 23 scraps the need for the consent of the first wife if her husband wants to take another spouse, a condition that was previously a legal necessity. The bill requires men to provide a judicial permit for a new marriage confirming he has financial capability and can provide financially for the new wife and that justice will be uphold among his wives and all wives will be treated equally. However, no further specification appears in the bill as to what would constitute “justice” and unequal treatment. So, the husband’s subjective appraisal of his ability for fairness constitute the only restriction. “Justice is a transcendental and abstract concept and upholding it could mean different thing to different people.
Also, no clear, specific and measurable condition is provided to define a person’s financial capability in order to have two, three or four wives. Many critics argue that the language of this bill also reduce and minimize the whole host of needs of Iranian women to satisfaction of an undefined and ambiguous “ financial needs “, and ignore the emotional, psychological and other aspects of life for women and overall objectifies women.
A member of the legal and judicial commission in response to why Article 23 had not been removed considering the controversy surrounding the issue, stated: "this article is in accordance with the religious laws, and the controversy is a creation of the media. This article is religiously acceptable and will be approved by parliament, so no one will dare to challenge this vote". However, An statement cited the decrees from top Iranian clerics such as Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Sanei indicates that in their view second marriage is only legal when the first wife agrees to it.
Based on the current family law in Iran, men can take four wives and divorce any of them without stating a reason, but the law limits when a woman can divorce a man. It is not clearly defined by law, but up to the court and judges to decide, and it is very difficult for a woman to prove that she has reason to divorce. Prenuptial agreements giving the right to divorce are a recent phenomenon. While Iranian women activists and their allied men are striving to change the discriminatory laws, many protect their rights in prenuptials or temporary legal documents.
Within the body of Islamic family law polygamy has been appropriately considered a major factor of gender inequality and a violation of Women’s human rights. The very fact that a woman may have to share her husband and home with co-wives says much about the gender inequality built into the law. A woman lives with the constant possibility that her husband will take another wife. If she fails to behave in accordance with her husband's wishes, she runs the risk of having to live in a polygamous household. This reinforce the patriarchal power relation and an creates and environment of fear for women to comply with their husband desires, decisions and preferences. Polygamy is often an heir-producing device particularly sons as the presence of sons has historically contributed to a man's social status and his power as well as security in old age.
Polygamy is a major source of inequality in the relationship between husband and wife, a clear violation of women’s human rights and a major depart from gender equality construct as it negate and threaten the marital union.
Article 22 of the Bill in the “ Note” section states “Registration of temporary marriage shall be subject to Rules of Procedure to be approved by the minister of justice”. The Bill removes any requirement for registering temporary marriage with the Registrar Office. The practice of temporary marriage has existed in Shiite sect while many Sunni majority societies banned it Historically the practice has been limited to shrine cities like Meshed and Qum and mostly by pilgrims who traveled. “Sigheh’ or “temporary marriage” contract should have a expiration date which can vary from few hours to 99 years. Many secular Iranians are viewing legalized “ temporary marriage “ as a reflection of hypocrisy of clerics, who have exploited “temporary marriage” over the years but are adamantly opposed to premarital or extramarital sex.
Despite its religious imprimatur, temporary marriage has never been very popular in Iran. Many Iranians regard sigheh as little more than legalized prostitution. The discourse of
“temporary marriage” has been debated in recent years and advocates have point out that children of such unions are legitimate and entitled to a share of the father's inheritance. The current bill will leave women and children being born in these marriages without any legal protection or rights.
The “temporary marriage” also have been encouraged in the last decade as a response to the complex of social issues and restricted Islamic norms in terms of socialization of young men and women. However, in finding a “ religiously accepted solution” to the deep rooted social issues, legalization of “temporary marriages” and it’s social consequences has not been evaluated in the context of sexuality, public health and sexually transmitted diseases, women’s human rights, birth control, violence against women, welfare of children born in these marriage and other social issues.
Article 25 of the bill states “ At the time of registration of marriage, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance is required to collect tax on unreasonable and higher-than-convention marriage portions, in view of the condition of the couple and the national economic issues, progressively in ratio to the increase in the amount of marriage portion.
The amount of conventional marriage portion and the amount of tax shall be determined with a view to the general economic conditions of the country by Rules of Procedure to be proposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and to be approved by the Council of Ministers”. This article introduce a new concept to the legal system by taxing women's dowry( Mehr) In traditional marriage, women are required to stipulate a consummation price ( mahre) , which they are entitled to receive at marriage and before sleeping with the groom, though historically, this is paid to women on divorce. According to the data from Registrar Office, last year in Tehran, only 3% of the women who asked for their dowry received it, 87% of divorces women did not receive their dowry, 14% had to give up their dowery in order to convince their husband to divorce them ( there is a proverb in Persian which translate as “ I give up my dowry to gain free my life – Mehram halal, janam azad “)
While dowry is not a full protection to keep the union, imposing taxation on dowry is a form of interference in the marriage contract which is a contract between two private party. Taxation intended to be a response to increase in amounts of dowry which is an outcome of the inequalities that women are facing in terms of equal opportunity and equal access to the economic resources. While more than 60% of students in higher education are women, according to the Center for Women's Studies University of Tehran men’s participation in the workforce is 5.1% times higher than women. Imposing taxes on dowry is ineffective to remove barriers to the low rate of marriage among younger generations. The economic crisis, unavailability of affordable housing in major cities, high rate of unemployment and inflation along with barriers to participation of women in the workforce are the challenges that younger people are facing.
It should be noted that polygamy and temporary marriages hardly have become part of the fabric of Iranian society. Although the number of polygamous marriages has increased after Iran adopted to Sharia law after 1979, it remains relatively rare in Iran compared with some Arab countries, and is frowned upon by many.
Article 46 states : “ Any foreign national who marries an Iranian woman without obtaining the permit mentioned under Article 1060 of the Civil Code, shall be sentenced from ninety one days to one year imprisonment. In that case, the woman, if she has got married at her free will, the girl’s father, if the marriage has taken place with his permission, and the marriage solemnize, shall be sentenced as accomplices of the offence”. This means that all the foreign nationals who marry an Iranian woman without obtaining permit will be facing sentence from ninety one days to on year imprisonment and even the women who is getting married at her free will and all the parties involved even marriage solemnize will be facing harsh sentences. Although marriage is a desirable institution , however, the currently family law have no respect for equal rights for marrying foreign national which means lack of equality in citizenship. The impact of this Bill on Iranian women living abroad is considerably significant. Based on the existing Family Law which has been challenged by many women activists, Iranian women can not obtain citizenship for their children even if they are born and raised in Iran.
This Bill not only resolve the discriminatory nature of the existing law, rather it takes it few step back. Considering the large number of Iranian living abroad (estimated more than 4 million ), many have married foreign national.
In addition to the above, Articles 15, 19, 40 & 44 will have some impact on the lives of Iranian Women living abroad.
Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel peace laureate severely criticized the proposed bill. She is not alone when she claims that it would bring 'moral corruption' to society. Iranian women activist and human rights defenders are warning that the Bill will increase violence against women as well as violence perpetuated by women. As violence against women is the cause and consequences of gender inequality, it is only expected that the Bill will intensify the level of discrimination against women in Iran.
In a recent meeting organized by “Defenders of Human Rights Center” to oppose the Bill, she stated that "This law will bring decadence and moral corruption to society”. She even took a step further and described the bill a ‘Tyranny” not only against women but also against men. She also stated that "if you have become rich overnight, no matter how, you can legalize your desires,"
The assault of Iranian Regime to the rights and dignity of Iranian people has been intensified in recent years. The bill is not an isolated measure but rather aliened and consistent with other repressive measures to curtail freedom and democracy in Iran. Different social policies such as limiting the number of women entering higher education, social security by cracking down on women who are not observing the strict Islamic dress code, arrest and detention of women activist and human rights defenders, repeated filtering of women/feminist websites, demanding outrageous bails for women activists, harassing the men who are supporting the plight of Iranian women to change discriminatory laws and other measures by the government are aiming at silencing the brave and inspiring women’s movement in Iran.
One would be appalled at the lack of transparency when comparing the status of women in Iran with the statement made by delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Fifty – Second session of the UN Commission on the status of Women on March 3, 2008. In a three pages statement, it is said that “ In the Islamic Iran women can be active members of the society without neglecting the family. In Iran, women in general are regarded the center of the family and hence regarded as the center of society, since society is but the connected parts of family units coming together, and women are its principal trainers.” How one can justify such indignified treatment and discrimination against women who are being claimed to be “The center of society”?
In today’s world, using the language of “ justice”, “ equality”, “ rights and democracy”, “ center of society” hardly is meaningful if it is not being supported by action. Western empires are using this language to invade and destruct local infrastructure of other nations under the banner of “ democracy and human rights” and religious extremist transnational regardless of being in position of power or not, in Iran, Afghanistan or in FLDS camps can talk about “ upholding justice “ , “ security” and “well being of women and girls” while raiding the human rights of women and girls in polygamist, patriarchal power structure.
Iranian women seeking democracy at home and in society are visioning beyond “ patriarchal bargaining” and will strive to make structural changes to the outdated patriarchal family law relying only on the women’s movement and its relation with broader social movements not on forces that are using the jargons of “human rights” to further their political agenda.
