Women's rights in Iran have severally received restrictions to the extent that women are denied the freedom of attending the stadiums to watch volleyball which turns out to be the favourite sport in the country. This ban has led to many questions arising as people keep asking themselves, do women have rights in Iran? “The human rights watch” recently launched another campaign to support women in Iran who are faced with discrimination almost every day. Women in Iran being banned from watching sports in the stadium while men watch and play is an example of cruelty women face in Iran.
Over the years, few women have stood upon the discriminations issues like child custody, marriage and even divorce. Sadly, those few heroes were being jailed for their courage to defend their rights in their own country. The government is so focused on the population growth in the country that they are planning to ban all medical procedures for women who volunteer to undergo treatments to avoid pregnancies. It’s not just women being frustrated but anyone who stands up to criticize the government on their wrongdoings faces risks of being thrown to jail.
Other restrictions of women’s rights in Iran
Iran plans their regular elections and most Iranians together with Hassan Rouhani, their president, want changes and improvements however, most of the powers lies with their supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His offices have power over the judicial courts, the military and even the media. A newspaper that has always supported Ayatollah states the opinion of “gender equality as improper and unaccepted according to the Islamic religion.
These issues have been crossing women’s lives for years. Iranian women are forced into wearing the hijab and headscarf in public places. This also goes for the young school girls recommended wearing the hijab for them to attend elementary school. Furthermore, any married woman can never leave the country without a permit from their husband. This was highly experienced in September when the captain of Iran’s female soccer team was not allowed to participate in a tournament in Malaysia just because her husband didn’t allow her to travel. As much as Iran doesn’t want women to play volleyball or soccer, they are also denied the pleasure of watching men play the game, it could be their sons, brothers, husbands, or even fathers playing. Police officers are even posted around the stadium with the aim of keeping women out of sight, in fact, Ghoncheh Ghavami was jailed when she attempted to watch a volleyball game.
The rights watch is trying to convince Iran in allowing women to attend stadiums and watch games, and by doing this it shows a crucial first step towards wanting to ensure that everyone enjoys the freedom their entitled to. When it comes to sports, Iran isn’t the only nation that discriminates women, Saudi Arabia not only restricts women from watching men play in stadiums but also can’t even allow girls to attend gym classes in state-funded schools. Anyone looking to bring change around the middle east region should be ready to put on some work and determination so as to improve how women are living in those areas.
Other abuses of human rights in Iran
Iran’s situation on human rights is terrible. It’s slightly possible to state the main abuse but a lot of restrictions are included on the freedom of speech. A reporter with no borders states that Iran is the leading jailers of bloggers, journalists, and most activists on social media. Here, even a post on Facebook can land you in jail. At the moment, Jason Rezaian, Washington’s post correspondent is unfairly imprisoned by the Iran government, turns out that in Iran, you can be jailed for insulting the president, supreme leader or any government official, this can’t be a crime. In 2014, four young men and three women were arrested by police for creating a video of them dancing together to the hit song “happy” by Pharrell Williams. They were charged with engaging in what they called “illicit relations”
Final thoughts
Women's rights and other rights have severally faced discrimination over the past years and a change for the better is highly recommended. After finding out how these women are faced with challenges and yet required to fill the country’s population is both upsetting and sad. Thanks to Maryam Rajavi on “maryam-rajavi.com” the leader who has risen up and proved how competitive she is on all grounds despite their disturbing policies of misogyny and tyranny. On her viewpoints on women’s rights in Iran, she lists all women’s equal rights and freedoms that will uplift all women in the country giving them a voice to speak up. With these motives and demonstrations, the government will soon grant women all their rights allowing them to enjoy their freedom.
