Discrimination in Employment Exams and Government and Women's Reactions

If you are someone who follows social media, you have certainly heard that the topic of the first comprehensive employment exam for government agencies has sparked various discussions in recent days. According to the examination booklet, which had a registration deadline of April 22, 13 government organizations in the country and 18 departments in North Khorasan province will employ 7,393 people, of which the specific allocation for women is 2,392. This division of government employment occurs while, according to the Minister of Labor, the unemployment rate for women is twice that of men. However, it can be said that for the first time in recent years, a government official has paid attention to a gender issue faster than social activists. Shahindokht Molaverdi announced on Tuesday that she has conducted correspondence to eliminate discrimination in this employment exam. She stated that discrimination has been observed not only in the number of women but also in the selection of provinces where women can be employed, and the Women's Affairs Department has corresponded on this matter, hoping to achieve results. Soodeh Rad, a women's issues activist, is with us. Soodeh Rad: It was not difficult to find instances of discrimination, especially in gender quotas in this booklet. This is because, as you flipped through it, you saw that the quotas for men were listed consecutively, and the number of words referring to women was very, very low. We should also note that even the quotas categorized as shared between women and men are gender quotas of 50 percent for each, and in fact, here too, there is no meritocracy, but rather a special allocation for a specific job in a particular place to a woman or a man. However, Ms. Rad, it seems that this employment involves many different organizations. Has any organization paid attention to equal employment for women and men? It is very interesting to see, for example, that a place like the Administrative Justice Court, where one might file a complaint regarding this gender inequality in the employment exam booklet, has almost equally divided its jobs between women and men. At the same time, we see that a place like the Civil Aviation Organization, which wants to hire a total of 21 people, is only looking to hire one woman. The Tehran Emergency Center has not allocated any quota for women, while all 212 job positions are assigned to men. However, it seems that many graduates in the country could fit into the Emergency Organization. As we know, there are many nursing or medical emergency graduates in universities. Ms. Rad, is any part of this booklet illegal? When we look at this booklet, it seems that before the comprehensive population and family enhancement plan is even proposed and voted on in parliament, Article 9 of this plan is being implemented. Article 9 explicitly states that priority in employment is given first to men with children, then to married men, and then to married women and youth, etc. The main issue that is disturbing here is that according to Iranian laws, men are responsible for the family's livelihood, and all laws derived from that are the main law. Iran is among the signatories of the International Labor Organization convention, which states that no one has the right to enforce any legal or practical discrimination based on gender, race, etc. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, we see that in university fields that prepare individuals for various jobs, discrimination is practiced; even those who graduated from university, even if they passed the gender segregation or gender quota barriers, still face closed doors when they reach jobs. On Tuesday, Ms. Molaverdi reacted to this booklet, and on Saturday, a statement from 900 women's rights activists was published regarding this matter. It seems that Ms. Molaverdi has acted more swiftly than social activists. But is the only thing that women's rights activists have done the publication of this statement? We think that the issue of employment is such a daily matter that it should not be limited to women's rights activists or gender equality advocates. From the first hours that the booklet was made public, protests at least in the virtual space surged significantly. Twitter waves directed towards Ms. Molaverdi and Mr. Rouhani occurred simultaneously with issues surrounding the nuclear agreement and understanding, etc. Those tweeting were very concerned that their voices would not reach anywhere. However, it seems that this has happened. Perhaps it is a reason for joy that based on the efforts made by activists in various social fields, now everyone in Iran is better aware of their rights and can even use the tools and environments available to them to express their objections to what affects their daily lives and gender inequalities and other inequalities, believing that their voices are being heard. Issuing a statement serves one purpose. Tweeting serves another purpose, and the world is moving in such a way that everyone should know their rights and be able to stand up for their rights. However, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, composed of 54 members, held a secret ballot on Friday to elect the board of the UN Women’s Agency, in which the United Arab Emirates and Samoa each received 53 votes, Turkmenistan received 52 votes, Pakistan received 49 votes, and Iran was elected with 36 votes to the mentioned board. However, this election provoked reactions. Among them, the United States criticized the human rights record of the Islamic Republic regarding women, deeming the vote for Iran's accession to the UN gender equality body completely inappropriate. Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, pointed out that in Iran, the law does not allow women to be appointed to certain government positions, there is no law against domestic violence, and adultery is punishable by stoning. She stated that the low total votes received by Iran is evidence of the deep concerns that UN member states have regarding Iran's placement on the UN Women’s Agency board. Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is with us. Ms. Ebadi, do you think Iran's membership in the UN Women’s Agency, despite the international reactions it has received, can have an impact on the status of women within the country? First of all, I must say that this issue depends on the structure of the UN, meaning that based on geographical distribution, countries must be members of various places in order. Iran's request had been rejected twice, and this time, because there was no significant rival against it, it was able to be elected. One of Iran's competitors is the United Arab Emirates, whose status of women we all know. Another is Turkmenistan, where the status of women is much worse. In any case, Iran's membership in the board does not mean that the status of women in Iran is good. However, it opens up an opportunity for Iranian women to seek justice, which means that in many cases where the Iranian government violates women's rights, it can be reported to this organization and protested that an organization whose board commits such acts, including imprisoning a girl for wanting to go to a stadium for two months and then converting it to a fine, or other cases, can be reported to this organization. Therefore, in my opinion, Iran's membership in this organization can open a window for more advocacy for Iranian women. Thus, Iran will be a member of the UN Women’s Agency starting January 1, 2016.