Islamic law, the Constitution, the Civil Code, the Penal Code, ordinances, statutes and executive orders constitute the main legal instruments that protect women’s rights in Iran. The Constitution and the Civil Code of Iran draw upon the principles of Islam contained in the Holy Qur’an, the Islamic traditions and accounts and ordinary laws which within the framework of religious principles and the Constitution, assure the co-ordination of social relations and the fulfillment of the people’s needs.

This document which is an outline of references made to the rights of women found in the Constitution, the Civil Code and other legislation is organized as follows:

1. Existing Legal Instruments

1. The Constitution
2. Civil, Judicial and other Laws and Regulations
   1. Laws and regulations on social security, family protection and elimination of discrimination against women
   2. Laws and regulations on women’s employment
   3. Laws and regulations on health and medical care
   4. Laws and regulations on women’s education
3. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

2. Women and the Mass Media

A. Existing Legal Instruments

The preamble to the Constitution states: "Family is the fundamental unit of society and the focal point of human growth and elevation. Ideological and idealistic concurrence in the formation of the family, which is the major determinant of human progression and development, is a fundamental principle, and it is the responsibility of the Islamic government to facilitate the attainment of this objective. It is in the context of this definition of the family unit that woman ceases to be an object and merely a tool in the service of exploitation and propagation of consummation; and while regaining her significant and worthy role of motherhood in bringing up children with ideological beliefs and attitudes, she, alongside men, pioneers and strives for achievement in the active field of life. Consequently, she will assume greater responsibilities and attain greater respect from the view point of Islam."

Article 3, Section 14 of the Constitution places emphasis on equal treatment of men and women by law and states that "the Government is required to make every endeavor to secure all-embracing rights for men and women, create judiciary security for all and equality of all citizens before the law."

Article 10 of the Constitution states: "As family is the basic unit of Islamic society, all laws, regulations and programs must aim at facilitating its establishment and safeguarding its values. Relations within the family must rest upon Islamic laws and ethics."

Article 20 of the Constitution says: "All members of the nation, whether man or woman, shall receive equal protection of law and shall enjoy human, political, economic, social and cultural rights with due reference to and observance of the principles of Islam."

And finally, in Article 21 the Constitution stipulates: "The Government shall be responsible for the safeguarding of the rights of women in all respects in accordance with the principles of Islam", by taking the following measures:

1. Creation of suitable environment to enhance the personality of woman and redemption of her good and material rights.
2. Protection of mothers, particularly in the duration of pregnancy and custody of children; and protection of children without guardians.
3. Creation of competent courts to preserve the continuity and survival of the family.
4. Implementation of a special insurance scheme for widows, elderly women and women without guardians.
5. Granting custody of children to qualified mothers to protect their interests in the absence of legal guardians."

According to the Constitution, men and women enjoy equal rights in employment, social security benefits and access to free education. Specific references are as follows:

Article 28: "Every person can choose the job that suits his or her liking, provided that such work does not violate Islamic values, public interests or any other person’s rights. Government must, in accordance with society’s needs for different professions, create employment opportunities for all citizens and establish equal conditions for securing jobs."

Article 29: "Benefiting from social security in retirement, unemployment, old age, invalidity, homelessness, incapacity, accidents, calamities, health services, medical care in the form of insurance, etc., is the right of every citizen, which must be provided by the Government via public revenues, people’s participation and other means and sources."

Article 30: "Government has the responsibility of providing free education for everyone to the end of high school grade and extending free higher education to the point of covering the need of all citizens."

The collection of women’s civil, judicial and economic rights and other statutory codes and enactment have contained in the texts of the Civil Code and other laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran are summarized below.

a. Laws and regulations on social security, family protection and elimination of discrimination against women

-Providing household allowance to men and women covered by social insurance.

-Law entitling women employees who are divorcees, widows, or those whose husbands are invalid to a family allowance.

-Laws governing financial and intellectual support of homeless women and children.

-Female children’s entitlement to continue to receive pensions after the death of their parents.

-Extension of social insurance to the mother of the insured if she is supported by the insured and is over 55 years of age (Social Security Law).

-Priority in the payment of mahr ( marriage portion) and alimony at the time of settlement of husband’s debts (Law of Settlement of Debts, Chapter of Debts of the Deceased: Article 226).

-Laws governing mahr ( marriage portion) (Civil Code: Articles 1078-1101)

-Right of dissolution of marriage:
In case a woman deems that there is a necessity for divorce, she can dissolve her marriage through the following provisions:

1. Judicial divorce, meaning that a divorce would be obtained through court procedures.
2. Khol divorce, by which the wife may obtain a divorce owing to her repulsion of the husband, in return for property she cedes to the husband.
3. Mubarat divorce, which may be sought by either the wife or husband due to mutual repulsion. (Civil Code: Articles 1029,1129,1130,1146,and 1147).

-Laws governing the dissolution of marriage (Civil Code: Articles 1120-1157).

-Amendments to the Law of Divorce and the determination of statutes concerning divorce, which specify obligation on the part of the husband to pay the wife a certain amount of money determined by the court as a compensation for her years of household management and children’s upbringing (Single Article on Divorce, ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 1992).

-Specific laws governing precautionary measures against the dissolution of marriage:

1. Bill for the establishment of family counseling units in special civil courts.
2. Single Article on Divorce necessitating court consultation for application for any kind of divorce, mutually agreed or otherwise as a precautionary measure against divorce.
3. Specifying marital conditions that benefit women including the donation of 50 percent of the husband’s assets to the wife if husband seeks divorce on baseless grounds.
4. Law of punishment for baseless negation of marriage.

-Law giving the wife the right of divorce if her living expenses are not provided for by the husband (Civil Code: Article 1118).

-Laws on the protection and strengthening of family ties and the prevention of extra-martial relations (Civil Code: Articles 1050-1054).

-Law on civil responsibility and requirements for the compensation of damages inflicted to a person or family’s reputation or credibility (Law of Civil Responsibility: Article 10).

-Punishment for offences committed against family morality and ethics (Law of Civil Responsibility: Articles 101-104).

-Law is prohibiting husband’s marriage with close relations of the wife.

-Prohibition of engaging female workers under 18 years of age in strenuous and potentially physically harmful tasks.

-Prohibition of night-shift work for women under 18 years of age.

-Prohibition of work for women six weeks before and four weeks after delivery (Labor Law).

-Prohibition of manual handling of loads of women during pregnancy and ten weeks after delivery (Labor Law, Regulation of Load Handling: Article 7).

-Law of maternity leave.

-Provision of means of subsistence for the families of prisoners (Prison Regulations: Article 268).

-Creation of suitable facilities for the rehabilitation of prisoners to expedite their return to normal life in order to pursue family interests (Prison Regulations Article 129).

-Allocation of 50 percent of the monthly wages prisoners receive for useful activity they perform to their families (Prison Regulations: Article 110).

-Laws of detaining women in separate quarters in prison and giving them means to keep their children of under five years of age with them.

-Laws governing obligations and rights of spouses in marriage (Civil Code: Articles 1102-1111).

-Availability of maternity care and assistance.

-Protection of the rights of retired or deceased women’s children.

-Women’s rights for leniency in punishment for criminal acts. Based on Islamic principles and code of justice, compared with men’s punishment for a committed crime, certain leniency is provided for women for the protection and honor of their dignity.

-Law of exigency of submission of medical-fitness certificate prior to marriage.

-By-laws for the provision of medical and financial assistance to families of prisoners of war and providing pension for families who have lost their members in enemy captivity.

b. Laws and regulations on women’s employment

-Guarantee of women’s freedom of choice in employment where their dignity and family honor is protected.

-Provision of maternity support for women covered by social insurance and their access to medical check-ups and assistance in childbearing.

-Giving leave-without pay permission to women public-service employees who have to accompany their husbands on missions outside the area of their regular employment (Law Series, Leave Regulations: Article 37, Section 3).

-Giving leave to female employees due to their own illness, serious illness of parents, death of spouse or close relatives.

-Exemption of married women physicians, dentists and pharmacists from the obligation of practicing their profession outside the capital city, Tehran for a number of years prior to obtaining a permanent certificate of practice in Tehran.

-Laws and regulations favoring women for part-time employment.

-Laws facilitating the retirement of female workers who are 55 years old and have served for 20 years.

-Law governing the employment of women by the Judicial Branch.

-By-laws of the manual handling of loads by female workers.

-Provision of 90 days leave with pay during pregnancy and after delivery (Labor Law: Article 26).

-Necessity of removing women in pregnancy from dangerous and hard tasks without reducing their wages.

-Men and women are entitled to equal pay under equal conditions. Discriminatory measures based on age, gender, race and political and religious beliefs are absolutely prohibited (Labor Law: Article 38).

c. Laws and regulations on health and medical care

-Law on vaccination of pregnant women.

-Law of compulsory vaccination of women against tetanus before marriage.

-Law of establishing a Medical Services Organization for the families of public sector employees.

d. Laws and regulations on women’s education

-Allocation of gynecology fields in medical schools to female volunteers.

-Rural midwives’ training law (Single Article Law).

-Allocation of college seats for female students majoring in specialized fields of medical sciences.

-Law of the provision of educational facilities.

-Law of establishing youth training centers.

3. Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Many of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women are contained in and covered by the existing legislation in Iran and are currently being executed. At present, the content and provisions of the Convention are receiving careful consideration by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its ratification.

B. Women and the Mass Media

The Iranian mass media have always made endeavors to reflect women’s issues and to increase women’s knowledge on legal matters. Television, and particularly radio, through a wide variety of programs, have evaluated and reported on the situation of women in Iranian society and have tried to promote women’s understanding and knowledge of their social, political, economic and cultural rights.

Currently, of the 550 regular publications in Iran, ten publications belonging to women and specifically addressing women’s issues are: Al-Mahjoobeh, Al-Tahereh, Zan-e Rouz, Payam-e Hajar, Shahed-e Banovan, Women, Neda, Payam-e Zan, Nesa, and Farzaneh. In general, these publications deal with different aspects of women’s affairs and with subjects that are appropriate for different age groups with various educational backgrounds. Results of a recent survey show that 13 percent of Iranian journalists are female.

Women in Iran are actively involved as film and theatre directors and as cinema and stage actresses. They also play important roles in other arts.