Universal Periodic Review of Iran
47th Session · January 2025
Gender-based discrimination in law and practice
Iran is one of just six UN member states that are not party to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Under the Constitution, the rights of women and girls are only equal to men and boys when these are deemed in conformity with the “Islamic criteria,” a vague requirement with no definition under Iranian law that has led to the adoption and implementation of laws and practices that discriminate directly or indirectly against women and girls in Iran.
Under Iranian law, women and girls’ rights are not equal to those of men and boys when it comes to the age of criminal responsibility, rights to marriage, divorce, the custody of children, participation in public and political life, in sports and in arts, work, freedom of movement, the transmission of their nationality to their children, and more. Women’s and girls’ testimonies in courts have no legal value for certain categories of crimes, while weights only the value of half that of a man’s in other cases. Women and girls are also entitled to lesser compensation for the violations of their rights.
In November 2021, the Guardian Council ratified the “Youthful Population and Protection of the Family” law, which essentially criminalizes access to abortion, contraception, voluntary sterilization services and related information. UN experts denounced the law as being in “contravention of international law,” violating “the rights to life and health, the right to non-discrimination and equality, and the right to freedom of expression.”
The Law “to Support the Family by Promoting the Culture of Chastity and Hijab”, was ultimately approved by the Guardian Council in September 2024 and should soon come into force. The law consolidates measures already in place to enforce compulsory hijab and imposes additional severe penalties, such as fines and longer prison sentences, as well as restrictions on employment and educational opportunities for women and girls who do not comply with the discriminatory and degrading compulsory dress requirements. A year ago, in September 2023, UN experts criticized the law (then bill), which “could be described as a form of gender apartheid.” The High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the “draconian” law (then bill) “flagrantly flies in the face of international law” and “must be shelved.”
| Recommendations |
| Ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. |
| “Amend or repeal discriminatory legal provisions against women and girls , and take more robust measures to guarantee de jure and de facto equality between men and women.” (Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations, October 2023, para 18 (a)) |
Participation in Political and Public Life and Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls
In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report in 2024, Iran ranked 143 out of 146 countries assessed. Less than 14% of women participate in the labour force as opposed to over 67% of men. The Labour Code forbids women from being employed in “dangerous, arduous or harmful work”. A husband can prevent his spouse from pursuing an occupation which he believes to be “with the family interests or the dignity of himself or his wife”. Women are prohibited from holding the position of Supreme Leader, and cannot be appointed as judges. Only 14 women are currently members of Parliament, out of 290 seats. The Guardian Council has never approved a woman to stand in presidential elections or to be elected to the Assembly of Experts, empowered to appoint or dismiss the Supreme Leader.
| Recommendation |
| Take all constitutional, legislative and administrative measures and remove existing barriers to ensure in law and practice women’s equal access to work, including to political offices, to all positions within the judiciary and public sector, without discrimination, and promote greater participation of women in all aspects of public and political life, including positions with decision-making authority. |
Sexual and Gender-based violence, including domestic violence
Iranian law does not criminalize marital rape or other forms of domestic violence. Rape is not classified as a distinct crime under Iranian law. The only only crime of sexual assault recognized under Iranian law is the crime of “zina” (sexual intercourse outside marriage) “without consent.” Zina without consent only covers forced or coerced vaginal and anal penetration by a penis “up to the point of circumcision” -therefore excludes other forms of penetration- and only when the perpetrator and the victim are unmarried – therefore explicitly excludes marital rape.
The Penal Code provides various exemptions for husbands, fathers, and grandfathers who kill or assault their female relatives, including in the name of so-called “honor”. Article 1108 of the Civil Code stresses that if a wife refuses to have sex with her husband without a “legitimate” excuse, she is not entitled to ‘spousal maintenance’.
Iranian law criminalizes all sexual intercourse outside of marriage, referred to as “zina”, whether consensual or not. If a woman is a victim of non-consensual zina, she must prove the offense in court with the confession from the perpetrator or the testimony from four male witnesses or equivalent. Because consensual sexual relations outside marriage are also illegal, women who cannot prove the act was non-consensual risk being prosecuted themselves. They may face severe punishments like flogging, stoning, or even the death penalty under certain circumstances. The mandatory punishment for a perpetrator of non-consensual zina is the death penalty, which can deter women from reporting the crime.
The Bill for the Protection, Dignity and Security of Women Against Violence has been in development since 2011 but has still not been adopted. Although the bill contains a number of positive provisions, it falls short of international standards. For instance, the current drat fails to criminalize marital rape and child marriage. The draft is currently on the Parliament’s agenda for final review and adoption although it is unclear when this would take place.
| Recommendation |
| “Adopt a comprehensive law criminalizing all forms of violence against women and girls that explicitly addresses domestic violence, marital rape and crimes committed in the name of so-called “honour”, and introduce legislation that protect s women and girls from all forms of violence” (Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations, October 2023, para 20) |
Child marriage
Child marriage continues to be permitted under Iranian law. The legal minimum age for marriage is 13 years old for girls and 15 years old for boys, though girls who have reached the age of legal majority, 9 “lunar years” (about 8 years old and 9 months), can be married with parental consent and court approval. As a result, 9 lunar year old married girls and older are also subject to the laws governing women and girls’ lives in marriage, including Civil Code Article 1108’s obligation to fulfill the sexual needs of their husbands. With the permission of the court, the legal guardian has the right to marry for, and on behalf of, a minor daughter – legally sanctioning forced marriage.
The state-owned Statistical Centre of Iran recorded that in 2020, 31,379 girls between the ages of 10 to 14 were married, and that 27,448 girls under 15 were married between 2021 and 2022. State-sponsored Iran’s Students News agency reported “over 20,000” child marriages with girls under the age of 15 between March and December 2022. Numbers, however, are likely to be higher as many child marriages go unregistered.
| Recommendation |
| “[I]ncrease the legal age of marriage to 18 years” and “criminalize marital rape.” (Committee on the Right of the Child, Concluding Observations, March 2016, para 54) |