The spread of the coronavirus and its consequences for Iranian women in the absence of necessary support
According to statistics announced by Iranian media, there are currently about 3 million female heads of households across Iran. This statistic shows that over the past 10 years, the number of female-headed households has increased by 58 percent compared to male-headed households. This statistic, with the spread of the coronavirus and the stay-at-home order of a large segment of Iranian society, has raised concerns and reactions from many women's activists.
Giti Pourfazel, a lawyer and women's rights activist, spoke to Voice of America on Thursday, April 19, referring to the difficult situation created for female heads of families due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran. She said that Iranian female heads of families, who before the outbreak of the virus had a meager income by selling handicrafts or working as daily wage workers in factories and workshops, have faced many problems with the beginning of the quarantine and staying home, including providing daily necessities for themselves and their families.
With the widespread spread of the coronavirus and the beginning of quarantine in various cities in Iran, a large number of Iranian citizens were forced to stay home and quit their jobs to prevent contracting the virus. This has caused difficulties for many people because the authorities of the Islamic Republic did not put any financial support on the agenda from the very beginning.
According to Giti Pourfazel, the spread of the coronavirus has not only affected the lives of women heads of families; rather, the coronavirus in Iran has mostly affected people who do not have proper nutrition due to poverty, and these people lose their lives if they contract the virus due to their low immunity.
Previously, the CEO of the Imam Ali Society had announced in a report that the average age of female heads of households in Iran is 18 to 60 years old; a statistic that differs in some provinces of Iran where child marriage is common, and in these provinces, women as young as 14 to 15 years old are also responsible for the family. This statistic, which is due to events such as underage marriages and subsequent divorces at a young age, is considered a major problem in Iran.
Currently, according to official statistics in Iran, the accuracy of which is of course questionable, the number of deaths from Corona in the country has reached 4,869 people and the number of infected people has been reported to be 77,995. According to this report, in the past 24 hours, 1,606 new patients with Covid-19 were identified in the country and 92 Covid-19 patients lost their lives during this period.
This is while the official statistics of Iran, China, and Russia cannot be verified by independent experts and cannot be considered reliable and final. A World Health Organization official has also said that the statistics announced by Iranian authorities about those infected with the coronavirus are only one-fifth of the actual number of infected people.
Meanwhile, public opinion in Iran and around the world is concerned about the Islamic Republic’s cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak. The US State Department’s representative for Iran on Thursday, March 6, accused the Islamic Republic’s officials of lying to the Iranian people about the extent of the coronavirus in the country. Brian Hook told reporters: “The regime initially told the people that there was no need to worry about the spread of this virus. But at the same time, the virus was spreading throughout Iran.”
Previously, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday, March 29, said that the Iranian regime is reluctant to provide information about the spread of the coronavirus, given the Islamic Republic's record of secrecy, and "I am concerned that they have hidden important information."
Source: Voice of America
