Moulavardi: I Hope the Violence Against Women Bill Does Not Meet the Same Fate as the Children's Bill

While the 'Support for Women Against Violence' bill has been under review in Iran's judiciary for over three years, Shahindokht Moulavardi, the President's Assistant for Citizen Rights, expressed hope that this bill does not meet the same fate as the children's protection bill, which has been stagnant for several years. In an interview with ILNA news agency, Moulavardi described the women's support bill as 'still in its early stages' and expressed hope that it does not suffer the same fate as the children's protection bill that has 'gathered dust for several years and has passed through several governments and parliaments.' The 'Children's Rights Protection Bill' was presented to the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 2011 during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency but did not reach the review stage in the ninth parliament. Hassan Rouhani's government reintroduced this bill, and despite its approval in the parliamentary judicial committee, voting on it has yet to reach the parliament's public session, even as multiple reports of child abuse in Iran have been published. The 'Support for Women Against Violence' bill was also drafted during Hassan Rouhani's first term when Moulavardi was the Deputy for Women's Affairs. This bill has been under review in the Islamic Republic's judiciary for over three years, and although Masoumeh Ebtekar, the Vice President for Women's Affairs, promised last year that it would soon be sent to parliament, no report has been published in this regard. According to Moulavardi, the judiciary cited the 'excessive prison sentences' in the bill as the reason for its prolonged silence. Nonetheless, Moulavardi defended the stipulation of prison sentences in the bill. She stated that the review of this bill in the judiciary's legal department has concluded and it was 'reported to be on the desk of the head of the judiciary,' but 'we need to see what the main reason for the delay of this bill is.' Previously, Parvaneh Salahshouri, head of the women’s faction in the parliament, labeled criticisms of the violence against women bill as 'political.' Several conservatives in Iran have criticized this bill, including Zahra Ayatollahy, head of the Cultural and Social Council of Women, who described the bill as 'modeling after UN documents and Western laws' in a note in the Kayhan newspaper. Ayatollahy also wrote that the 'responsibility for protecting women' should be entrusted to fathers, husbands, brothers, grandfathers, fathers-in-law, and 'relatives who have the power to support and defend women.' These statements come as an official from Iran's Welfare Organization states that one in three women in Tehran has been subjected to violence. Statistics released in January 2017 by Tehran's forensic officials indicate that spousal abuse was the primary reason for citizens' visits to forensic medicine after accidents and street fights that year, with an average of 52 cases of spousal abuse reported daily to Tehran's forensic medicine.