passport.15 In addition, the husband has the right to forbid his wife to leave the country,
regardless of whether she holds a passport. In exceptional cases, the county prosecutor can
authorize the issuance of a passport for a woman; however, only a few exceptions have been
made so far.16 Previously, a bill was introduced to the Iranian Parliament to amend the passport
law and eliminate the absolute right of husband over their spouse to travel outside of the country,
but the bill failed and did not go through the legislation process.17 In 2017, a draft law that would
allow women with particular jobs – notably athletes and artists- to travel outside the country
without their husband’s consent, provided that they secure the permission of the prosecutorgeneral, was introduced to the Parliament.18
The Iranian legal framework does not fully protect women from violence. For instance, the
Islamic Republic of Iran does not have laws which specifically criminalize domestic violence.
Article 630 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013) excludes husbands from criminal liability when
they commit murder, assault and battery against their wife if the husband catches their wife
committing a zina offence (adultery and fornication) with another man.19 Rape is not classified
as a distinct crime under Iranian law but is considered as a zina offence without consent.20
Marital rape is not recognized as a crime at all. The legal definition for ‘coerced zina’ is
restricted to forced vaginal and anal penetration by a penis -therefore excluding other forms of
penetration- and only when the perpetrator and the victim are unmarried, therefore explicitly
excluding marital rape.21 Beyond rape, no other form of sexual assault is specifically
criminalized under the Islamic Penal Code.22 As a result, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s
legislative framework is insufficient to combat domestic violence and marital rape.23 In 2017, the
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran found that
Article 1108 of the Iranian Civil Code, which obliges wives to fulfil the sexual needs of their
husbands at all times, “might even condone sexual abuse”.24 There is a serious lack of
comprehensive and readily available official data on the prevalence of domestic violence in the
15
The Passport Law: <https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/96904 >
For example, Niloufar Ardalan, a player in the Iranian women's futsal team, was unable to leave the country and participate in
competitions due to her husband's opposition. An issue that led to the issuance of a temporary permit with the intervention of the
Tehran prosecutor and a temporary court order. <https://www.asriran.com/001opM >
17
The latest status of the plan "Women leave the country without the permission of their husbands", <www.tabnak.ir/003GUK>
18
Asriran News Agency, ‘Mowlaverdi : Tarh-e- eslaah-e-gozarnameh baraye khourouj-e-zanan az keshvar dar Majles barrasi
mishavad [Mowlaverdi: The draft bill on the amendments to the passport law allowing women to leave the country will be
discussed in the Parliament], 28 July 2017, https://bit.ly/330XCyC
19
Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/
20
Article 221 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013), Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre, https://iranhrdc.org/englishtranslation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
21
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/
22
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/
23
See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexualviolence-in-iran/
24
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2017,
https://www.refworld.org/docid/58bd7e2b4.html
16
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