Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
law, would affect their rights. Within a couple of years women were back in the hejab -
and this time it was compulsory. The legal age of marriage for girls plummeted to nine (15
for boys), and society was strictly segregated. Women were not allowed to appear in pub-
lic with a man who was not a husband or a direct relation, and they could be flogged for
displaying 'incorrect' hejab or showing strands of hair or scraps of make-up. Travel was
not possible without a husband or father's permission and a woman could be stoned to
death for adultery, which, incidentally, included being raped. Family law again fell under
the jurisdiction of the religious courts and it became almost impossible for a woman to di-
vorce her husband without his agreement. In any case of divorce she was almost certain to
lose custody of her children. Women holding high positions - such as Shirin Ebadi, who
became a judge in 1979 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 - lost their jobs and many
gave up promising careers.
However, Iranian women had tasted eman-
cipation, and they resisted a total return to the
home. There were many rights that women did
not lose - such as the right to vote and the right
to hold property and financial independence in
marriage - putting them at a marked advantage
to some Arab neighbours. In fact, the rates of
education and literacy for women have shot up since the revolution for the simple reason
that many traditional families finally felt safe sending their daughters to school once Iran
had adopted the veil.
In 1997 Reformist president Khatami was voted in by mostly women and young
people, promising change. By 2001 there were 14 women in the
majlis
(Iranian Parlia-
ment) and calls to improve women's rights became louder. Among the most prolific
Islamic feminists is Faezeh Rafsanjani, the daughter of the ex-president, who herself was
a member of parliament, a magazine proprietor, an academic, a mother and an Olympic
horse rider.
Sigheh
is the Islamic practice of a temporary mar-
riage contract that allows sex outside of a normal
marriage. To many Iranians, especially women, it is
seen as a sort of legalised prostitution.
Women Today
The Khatami period brought a series of hard-fought minor victories. The Reformists man-
aged to win the right for single women to study abroad, to raise the legal age for marriage
from nine to 13 for girls (though they had proposed 15), to defeat an attempt to limit the
percentage of female students entering university and to improve custody provisions for
divorced mothers. Women make up almost two-thirds of all university entrants, though
their subsequent employment rate is below 20%. Although women's importance in the
