March 2012 Book of Women's Rights violations by Clerics in Iran- NCRI publication

A publication of the Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran


From the report of the Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed,on the situation of women’s rights violations:
Sixty-sixth session
Agenda item 69 (c)
Promotion and protection of human rights: human rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives
A/66/374

C. Women‟s rights

54. Moreover, the application of certain laws that erect barriers to gender equality undermine the Government‟s ability to equally protect those human rights stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights for all its citizens. For example, a woman‟s worth and testimony in a court of law are regarded as half that of a man‟s. Men have absolute rights to divorce, while women may initiate divorce
only if they meet certain conditions, some of which must be agreed to in a marriage contract. Mothers can never be awarded guardianship rights for their children, even upon the death of their husbands. Women do not have equitable inheritance rights, and even when a wife is the sole survivor to her husband‟s estate, she may not inherit more than a quarter of the estate. If she is not the sole survivor, she is limited to an eighth.
56. Moreover, strict implementation of the morality code concerning dress and attempts to criminalize improper veils have limited women‟s participation in public and social arenas. Equally worrisome are statements made by authorities that blame victims for inducing attackers to violate their physical integrity. These include reports of Government officials citing women‟s dress as the cause of recent attacks that took place in Isfahan in June 2011, where 14 women were kidnapped and gangraped while attending a private party. Government statements asserted that the women‟s dress was a source of the violence perpetrated against them and a rationale for the lack of action in bringing the perpetrators to justice

Women's Rights violations by Clerics in Iran- Book Mar 2011 to Feb. 2012 NCRI publication