WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

Justice for Iran

http://justice4iran.org/english/publication/submissions/using-rights-to-do-wrong-womens/

 

IRAN –CRITICAL ANALYSIS SUBMISSION TO UN ON 2 CONTROVERSIAL BILLS UNDER CONSIDERATION BY IRAN GOVERNMENT, THAT COULD BE DISCRIMINATORY TO WOMEN & LIMIT RIGHTS

 

Iran - Using Rights to do Wrong: Women’s Reproductive and Domestic Labour at the Service of Nation-Building, 

Justice for Iran Submission to the United Nations Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice

 

Full 50-Page 2014 Submission Link:

http://justice4iran.org/english/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/WG-Submission-Reproductive-Rightshealth.pdf

 

The submission provides an informative and descriptive overview of two recent highly controversial bills under consideration by the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely the Comprehensive Population and Family Excellence Plan (Bill 315), proposed on 18 June 2013, and the Bill to Increase Birthrate and Prevent the Fall in Fertility Rate (Bill 446), proposed on 20 April 2014. On 11 May 2014, Bill 446, introduced under a single urgency status to the Iranian Parliament to repeal the 1993 Family Planning Act, passed a first reading in Parliament with the support of 106 of the 207 MPs present.

 

This submission is also intended to present a critical perspective of the discriminatory provisions of Bills 315 and 446, which would enforce direct and de jure discrimination against women in various areas of their lives, such as marriage, childbearing and access to divorce by placing restrictions on the use of male and female contraceptive practices and women’s access to reproductive health and rights and reinforcing the prohibition of abortion (part I). Bill 315 also places undue restrictions on women’s employment and educational opportunities by affording relatively advantageous employment-related benefits encouraging women to leave the workplace in order to concentrate on their traditional maternity and caregiving roles at home (part II). Furthermore, Bill 315 provides married couples with a series of disguised welfare services such as gifts, loans, healthcare and child benefits that, although not discriminatory against women at first glance, clearly have the intended effect of impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of women’s right to access the occupation of their choice, right to equality in the workplace and right to freely and responsibly decide the number and age difference among their children (part III)………