Violence against women at center of debate on landmark bill in Iran
A landmark bill to expand the legal definition of violence against women remains stalled amid objections from the Iranian judiciary.
“Ever since we started our term, we have been waiting for this bill," said Iranian parliamentarian Tayyebeh Siavoshi of the Provision of Security for Women Bill, which expands the legal definition of violence against women. "Both we and the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs have repeatedly asked the judiciary to send this bill to the parliament. It has been almost three years and we have yet to receive this bill.”
Iranian parliamentarians originally discussed the importance of drafting this bill back in December 2012, during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s last year in office. After President Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013, following up on this bill became a priority of the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs.
The Rouhani administration eventually approved the bill in May 2017. Then, due to its judicial nature, the bill was sent to the judiciary for approval. Since then, the bill has been awaiting the signature of judiciary head Sadeq Amoli Larijani.
Now, Siavoshi says the judiciary has omitted 41 of the 92 articles of the bill. According to her, the judiciary finished reviewing the bill four months ago.
