WUNRN
IRAN
- WOMEN'S GROUPS HELP DEFEAT AGAIN,
BILL
TO REGULATE "TEMPORARY MARRIAGES"
By Zvi Bar'el -
01/09/10
"A marriage of convenience,"a marriage for pleasure," "legal prostitution" - these are just some of the phrases used to describe Shi'ite marriage arrangements that allow a man to marry a woman for a limited amount of time, ranging from one hour to 99 years.
The arrangement is legally recognized in Iran and was even significantly promoted as "a means to help women who have difficulty getting married for various reasons," as the former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, explained. The various reasons can include the fact that a woman is divorced, that she is unable to give birth, or that she has committed some transgression that makes it difficult for her to find a husband.
For some of the women who are forced to get married under an arrangement of this kind, as well as for young couples that are not officially married but require legal coverage to spend time together, this is the only arrangement that exists.
It is also convenient for thousands of students who go to the holy cities of Iran and want to have "legal" sex during their studies and before getting "actually" married.
However, these temporary marriages have become a bone of contention in Iran. A draft law introduced by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2007 to regulate the temporary marriages met with a great deal of public criticism, particularly from women's groups. They were especially incensed by the clauses that were intended to help men and make it possible for them to marry another woman without the permission of their first wife, the tax that would be imposed on the dowry the woman would receive, and the registration of temporary marriages.
When the law was introduced in parliament in 2008, it was rejected by the parliamentarians, essentially ending the controversy, until now.
Last week Ahmadinejad once again revived the law and brought it before parliament. His assumption was that since many of its opponents were no longer active - some were in jail and others had left the country - and since the parliament was controlled by a conservative majority, he would not have difficulty in getting it passed.
It appears that he did not estimate the strength of the opposition to the law, not only among women's organizations and human rights groups but also within the parliament.
At the end of last week, the parliament decided to reject at least paragraph 21 of the law, which talks of registering temporary marriages and had drawn most of the fire from the women's groups. Additional clauses in the draft law will soon be voted on, but the resounding defeat Ahmadinejad suffered so far in the parliament may yet cause him to withdraw the proposed legislation once again.