Disagreement between parliament and government causes 5-month delay in bill to end violence against women
Masoumeh Ebtekar, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, announced the failure to announce the receipt of the bill on ensuring women’s security against violence after nearly 5 months in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and said that due to the disagreement between the Assembly and the government, the legislative process of the bill on ensuring women’s security against violence has been blocked. On January 4, 2020, the bill on ensuring women’s security against violence was approved in a meeting of the government council. This bill was drafted in the 11th government, and 40 of its 92 articles were deleted at the very beginning.
According to HRANA news agency, quoting ISNA, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs said that the bill to ensure women's security against violence has not been announced in the Islamic Consultative Assembly for nearly 5 months.
Masoumeh Ebtekar said in this regard: "Due to disagreements with the government, the legislative process of the bill to ensure women's safety against violence has been blocked. This disagreement and taste has always existed, but so far we have not witnessed the parliament blocking the legislative process due to confrontation with the government."
She added: "The women of this country are demanding, requesting and expecting the approval of this bill. Many efforts have been made to build consensus on this bill. It was a very difficult task in the judiciary and in the government, but it was finally approved, but for five months the Islamic Consultative Assembly has not even shown a reaction to announce its receipt as a first step."
The Vice President for Women and Family Affairs stated that the public expects the bill to now pass through the committees and be approved in the open chamber of the parliament. He said: "This bill does not have a political aspect, but rather a human aspect, supporting the family and upholding women's rights, and it does not only focus on women's rights, but also includes family rights."
Emphasizing the supporting documents of this bill, Ebtekar added: "These documents have been published and are available. Several legal jurisprudence sessions at Qom University have been held regarding this bill, and a new volume of it was recently published, and there is no problem in discussing the jurisprudence documents of the bill."
The Vice President for Women and Family Affairs stated: "The bill to protect women is a consensus between the executive and judicial branches. Just as the bill is supported by the government, it is also supported by the judiciary, and the failure to announce the receipt of this bill is a clear violation of the constitution and is not an acceptable practice at all."
Iran is one of only four countries that has not joined the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
It should be noted that the bill to ensure women's safety against violence was approved at a government meeting on January 4, 2020.
This bill was drafted in the 11th government (Deputy of Women and Family Affairs), and due to its judicial nature, it was referred to the Judiciary by the Guardian Council for final review and drafting.
The bill in question, which was drafted in five chapters and 92 articles in order to prevent injustice in family relations and the necessity of eliminating oppression and abuse against women in the family sphere, as well as to foresee legal solutions and guarantees and prevent excesses in this field, was drafted by the Center for Women and Family Affairs of the 11th government, of which 40 articles were deleted.
The judiciary was considering a general reform or perhaps drafting another bill, but women's rights experts in the government believe the bill is complete.
The Presidential Legal Office also requested an extraordinary review of the bill on the protection, dignity, and security of women against violence. This action was taken after the media reported the murder of a 13-year-old girl in Talesh city by her father.
On Thursday, June 2, 2020, a 13-year-old girl named “Romina” was killed by her father in Talesh city in an honor killing. The girl had run away from home before the murder, but was eventually arrested by law enforcement and returned to her family after a case was filed by a judge at the city’s prosecutor’s office.
According to the annual report on the human rights situation in Iran in 2020, at least 13 women were killed for honor reasons in the cases recorded in this report.
Source: HRANA
