Blog 2- Iranian Women

The article I chose this week talks about how there may be a new bill that says single women in Iran will have to get permission from their fathers in order to be able to leave the country.  Women whom are married in Iran always need their husband’s permission to be able to withhold a passport since the 1979 Islamic revolution.  Husbands have the right to ban their wives from leaving the country.  Divorced women are though currently able to hold a passport and leave without permission of anyone.  As of now anyone above 18 years of age can apply for a passport.  This new bill will make it so that married women of any age need written consent of their husband to be able to have a passport and single women above the age of 18 will need permission of the guardian. Women’s rights have been struggling to abolish the need for the husband since the Islamic revolution and this bill will only put them back further from obtaining this freedom.  Women are seen to have owners and power should be given to men over women.

Reading this article I wasn't too surprised.  It is common for a lot of countries to see that the men or husbands’ should be in charge and have control over the women.  However, I was surprised that it went as far as being able to go out of the country, especially for a visit.  This to me is cruel punishment, especially to a mother and child.  In the article it said a mother and her 12-year-old daughter were subjected to a travel ban. Traveling and exploring is very important to me.  Everyone should be entitled to learning about other places other than their own.  Seeing that this has been a ongoing issue that they have been trying to abolish for over thirty years you try to just accept the fact that it just may not happen.  I wonder how the women feel over time about these decisions, what would happen if they tried to go against it?  I can only hope for the better for these Iranian women.

Deanna Thompson
2/8/2013 2:21pm