The Comprehensive Population and Exaltation of Family Bill (Bill 315)
- sanctions discrimination against women in the labour market based on their marital status and whether they have children or not. Article 9 of the Bill mandates that all private and public entities give hiring priority, in sequence, to men with children, married men without children, and women with children. Articles 10 and 16 prevent unmarried women and men from assuming teaching positions or obtaining a licence to practice family law.
- creates barriers to divorce. Article 21 presents divorce as “an anti-value with socially harmful consequences on spouses and children”. Articles 19 and 20 provide lawyers and judges with positive performance reviews and special bonuses in divorce cases that result in marital reconciliation. This will compound the discriminatory impact of Iran’s existing Civil Code wherein the grounds for divorce are not the same for men and women. Men can divorce their wives without giving any reasons but women must prove that they are living in conditions of severe hardship that make the continuation of marital life intolerable.
- raises concerns that the state will deal with cases of spousal/domestic violence through reconciliation rather than prosecuting and punishing perpetrators.
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