Parliamentary Disagreement with Government Causes 5-Month Stalemate on Anti-Violence Against Women Bill

She added: “The women of this country demand, request, and expect the passage of this bill. Many efforts have been made to build consensus around this bill. It was very difficult work in the judiciary and the government that was finally approved, but for five months the Islamic Consultative Assembly has not even shown a reaction to officially receive it as the first step.”

The Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, noting that the public expectation is that the aforementioned bill now passes through commissions and is approved in the open session of parliament, stated: “This bill is not political in nature but humanitarian, supporting the family and fulfilling women’s rights, and is not limited only to women’s rights but also encompasses family rights.”

Ebtekar, emphasizing the supporting documents for this bill, added: “These documents have been published and are accessible. Several jurisprudential-legal sessions of Qom’s Mofid University have been held regarding this bill, and recently a new volume of it was published, and there are no problems in the jurisprudential documents of the bill.”

The Vice President for Women and Family Affairs clarified: “The bill supporting women represents consensus between the executive and judicial branches. Just as much as the bill is supported by the government, it is also supported by the judiciary, and the failure to officially receive this bill is a clear violation of the constitution and is not an acceptable procedure at all.”

Iran is one of only four countries that has not acceded to the United Nations Convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

It should be noted that the bill on ensuring women’s security against violence was approved on December 14, 2020, in a cabinet session.

This bill was drafted during the eleventh administration (Vice President for Women and Family Affairs) and, due to its judicial nature, was referred to the judiciary by the Guardian Council for review and final drafting.

The aforementioned bill, consisting of five chapters and 92 articles, was drafted by the eleventh administration’s Center for Women and Family Affairs with the aim of preventing injustice in family relations and addressing the necessity of removing oppression and abuse against women in the family sphere, as well as foreseeing legal solutions and guarantees and preventing extremism and negligence in this field, with 40 of its articles deleted.

The judiciary may have envisioned a comprehensive revision or perhaps the drafting of another bill, but women’s field experts in the government believe the bill is complete.

The Legal Office of the Presidency had also requested review of the bill on protecting women’s dignity and ensuring women’s security against violence on an out-of-turn basis, which was done after the news of the murder of a 13-year-old girl in Talesh city at the hands of her father became public.

On Thursday, June 21, 2020, a 13-year-old girl named “Romina” in Talesh city was killed by her father under the pretext of honor. Before this murder occurred, this girl had fled her home, but was ultimately arrested by law enforcement and, after a case was filed, was returned to her family by one of the judges of this city’s prosecutor’s office.

According to the 2020 annual report on the status of human rights in Iran, in cases registered in this report, at least 13 women were murdered on honor-related grounds.