C. The Special Rapporteur further calls on to amend laws that violate the rights of
women, including the rights to work and the right to be free from discrimination,
especially in the workplace and in the hiring process.
With regards to women’s right to work, a husband can prevent his spouse from pursuing an
occupation which he believes to be against family values or harmful to his or her reputation.8
There is no law prohibiting an employer from seeking a husband’s permission for a woman to
work and employers have been reportedly requiring engaged or married women to provide a
written statement of permission from their husbands in order to be hired.9
A number of provisions under Iranian labour laws protect the right to work without
discrimination,10 yet forbid women from being employed in ‘dangerous, arduous or harmful
work’.11 Women do not have access to certain positions in the Judiciary or the government. For
example, women cannot be judges of the courts.12 Job benefits, such as social security and health
insurance, family bonuses or paid overtime, inhere to the man.1314 Additionally, the Iranian
labour code does not provide legal safeguards against discrimination in the hiring process.
There is a mechanism under the oversight of the Ministry of Labour that is tasked with receiving
and analysing complaints related to labour standards. There is no readily available information
with regards to the number of received complaints of gender-based discrimination when
accessing employment or within the workplace, or whether such complaints have been
addressed. There are no official and readily available reports of cases of discriminations in the
workplace in the Islamic Republic of Iran, but in practice, non-discrimination provisions
reportedly fail to be enforced.15 Reports of women facing discrimination, sexual harassment and
assault, notably in the workplace, have gained more visibility recently, including on social media
in Iran.1617
Although not challenging the discriminatory legal framework described above, the Government
engaged in several actions to address women’s access to employment in the Islamic Republic of
8
Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Art.1117 < https://shenasname.ir/laws/6664 >
Human Rights Watch, ‘It’s A Men’s Club’: Discrimination against Women in Iran’s Labour Market, May 2017
10
Including Article 6, The Labor Law: < https://shenasname.ir/laws/kar/1017 >
11
The Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian Labour Code, 1990, Articles 6 and 75.
12
Regulations for the appointment of judges of the country: < http://rooznamehrasmi.ir/Laws/ShowLaw.aspx?Code=927 >
13
Articles 1102 to 1119, 1133 to 1142, Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. https://iranhrdc.org/the-civil-code-of-theislamic-republic-of-iran/
14
Article 58 of the Social Security Act (adopted on June 24, 1975, and its subsequent amendments): <
https://shenasname.ir/laws/tamin/1024 >
15
Human Rights Watch <https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/05/25/its-mens-club/discrimination-against-women-irans-jobmarket>
16
BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35535269
17
AL Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/22/iranians-break-taboos-with-their-own-version-of-metoo ; Human
Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/09/iran-having-its-metoo-moment
9
3