Iran at the Bottom of Gender Gap Index; Azadeh Davachi: The 'Women, Life, Freedom' Movement Was an Eruption of Anger from Iranian Women

The World Economic Forum has published its latest report on the Global Gender Gap Index. According to this report, Iran, like last year, ranks 143rd out of 146 countries. Afghanistan, Chad, and Algeria follow Iran in the rankings, while Pakistan, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have better standings than the Islamic Republic of Iran in terms of reducing the gender gap. Among the 9 South Asian countries, Iran ranks 8th overall, with only Afghanistan below it. The Gender Gap Index measures gender equality in 146 countries across four areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. This year, Iran ranked 112th in educational attainment; 144th in economic participation and opportunity (above Algeria and Afghanistan); 116th in health and survival; and 143rd in political empowerment (above Lebanon, Vanuatu, and Afghanistan). Following this movement, Iranian women's perspectives on their gender have changed, and they have realized their potential for creating change. Azadeh Davachi, a writer and women's rights researcher, stated to Voice of America that the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement was an eruption of anger from masses of women who had been suppressed in various ways socially, economically, culturally, and politically. Ms. Davachi says this repressed anger manifested itself in the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement, and women realized they have more potential than what the government intends to impose. This writer and researcher believes that after this movement, Iranian women's views on their gender have changed, and they have recognized their potential for change, which they will pursue. Ms. Davachi added, 'The suppression of angry masses of women leads to systematic oppression, and the Islamic Republic responded to the uprising and anger of women with the approval of the population increase bill and the hijab.' This women's researcher believes that the restrictions on the activities of non-profit and civil society organizations and pressure on women's rights activists are challenges to achieving equality in Iran. Azadeh Davachi states, 'Currently in Iran, due to the presence in cyberspace and the use of the internet, we are facing a generation of aware women who have learned to create resistance themselves, but the law still stands against them and takes away their power to change.' She added that the only thing that can be done is to increase awareness in the field of equality because 'any regression from discriminatory laws' will ultimately lead to 'complete regression.' The new report from the World Economic Forum estimates that women will not achieve equality with men for another 131 years. According to the 'Global Gender Gap Report 2023,' the overall gender gap - the level of equality between women and men in the fields of economy, politics, health, and education - has only decreased by 0.3% compared to last year. The United States ranks 43rd this year with an equality score of 74.8%, down from 27th last year. Iceland has been ranked the most gender-equal country for the fourteenth consecutive year, sitting at the top.