Government Retreats on Women's Issues Under Rouhani

Once again, the Vice Presidency for Women’s Affairs has retreated. A letter with 12,000 signatures and over a thousand emails failed to compel the Vice Presidency to support women's demands. The story began when Niloufar Ardalan was unable to join the Iranian women's futsal national team as its captain due to her husband's refusal to allow her to participate, preventing her from accompanying the team in the Asian Women's Futsal Championship. This sparked extensive discussions about the necessity of a man's permission for a woman to leave the country. Various political and social opinions were expressed until Shahindokht Molaverdi promised that the government would address this issue. According to Article 18 of the Passport Law, women need their husband's permission to obtain a passport and leave the country. However, last week, on the occasion of Family Day, Shahindokht Molaverdi stated: "What I meant was that we can consider exceptions for women's international presence so that this presence is regarded as a service or mission. My discussion was about amending the law, not changing it." These remarks came less than a week after Ayatollah Jafar Subhani opposed changing passport laws to lift restrictions on women's travel abroad and extended his objections to Molaverdi's appointment as Vice President for Women’s Affairs. According to Soudeh Rad, a women's rights activist residing in Paris, Molaverdi's statements regarding attempts to change the passport law never inspired much hope among women's rights activists. Soudeh Rad said: "Ms. Molaverdi mentioned that they had received over a thousand emails and an 11,000-signature letter. They spoke about wanting to change the passport law. Now they are saying that they meant to do this for a series of exceptions. Not only did she not take a step to eliminate a clear gender inequality, but she is also once again discriminating among women. In fact, they are making exceptions. Unfortunately, the process of the Women and Family Affairs Vice Presidency, which had promised the Women's Ministry when they were conducting the presidential campaign, makes you feel like a step forward is taken, while Ms. Molaverdi takes two steps back. The same thing happened regarding women's entry into stadiums. The same is happening regarding leaving the country. In fact, she is aware of the gender inequalities that exist in law and society. But in my opinion, they either do not want to or cannot do anything. The issue of women is not a priority for Rouhani's government. But why, despite all the efforts made, are women's issues still not a priority for Hassan Rouhani's government? Majid Mohammadi, an analyst residing in the United States, answers this question: "I think there are three specific reasons for this. The first reason is that Rouhani's government lacks a social base and does not stem from any social movement or demand. Rouhani's government is primarily a product of the balance of power among governmental factions such as the pragmatic, Shariati, and military factions. That is why it quickly retreats when faced with pressure from the Shariati faction. The second reason is that Rouhani's government has a very low viability in domestic politics and cultural sectors, unlike foreign policy where the government has incurred costs and faced significant pressures. In those areas, they are willing to pay costs. However, in domestic politics and cultural sectors, the government's viability is fundamentally very low. The third issue is that women's issues and women's rights are among the last priorities of the government. The statements made by government officials on this issue, especially from the Women’s Vice Presidency, are mostly performative or only have a persuasive aspect for critical segments of society, to keep at least some segments satisfied in words. As Majid Mohammadi states, sending a letter with 12,000 signatures and over a thousand emails is one of those actions that one can hardly expect to yield results, and in the last two decades, it has rarely yielded results: "Women’s rights activists, after these experiences in both Khatami's and Rouhani's governments, should have realized that the path to exerting pressure on clerics, the religious bureaucracy, or the government does not pass through the executive branch or governments. These are experiences that have been carried out for two decades and have not yielded results. The path is direct pressures, whether through campaigns that can be held or through practical actions that can be taken. We do not see any movement from within these groups, whether among athletes or faculty members, supporting each other. Women’s rights activists should primarily move through those who can potentially convey their demands to the government, rather than through the three branches of power or government institutions.