The Treatment of Women in Iran

Under Iranian law, men are still favored and it is a mainly patriarchal society where women are treated as half of a man. During the revolution, many women wore the hijab as a sign of protest against Western decadence and did not expect it to become mandatory. Now women are forced to wear this garment in public at all times (King-irani). The Hijab refers to the practice of veiling or covering either the entire face and body or only the hair and neck. Women in Iran are required to cover everything except for their face and hands. Women do not wear the hijab in private and in public they often wear attractive clothing and jewels underneath the traditional garment. Women who do not follow the law of the hijab can be fined or imprisoned. It is clearly stated in Article 683 of the Penal Code: "Those women that appear in the streets and public places without the Islamic hijab, shall be sentenced from ten days to two months' imprisonment or fined from fifty thousand to five hundred thousand Rials". There is no similar rule for men in the Penal Code. The changing balance of forces between conservatives and reformists in Iran directly affects women and the way they choose to wear the hijab, deciphering how much hair they reveal (the more hair they show represents the more involved they are with the reformists) (King-irani). Women are doing everything they can to be more involved in the reformation of society.
             Due to underrepresentation in the government, women started Women's Organizations such as the Women's Organization of Iran (WOI). This led to the encouragement of women to run in local and national elections. The WOI's major goals included the modernization of law and gender equality, nationality rights for women, the criminalization of violence and domestic violence against women, and the increase of economic opportunities for women. This political awareness is what enabled and increased women's participation in the Islamic Revolution.