As a result, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s legislative framework is insufficient to combat domestic violence and marital rape.30 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 fulfill the sexual needs of their husbands at all times, “might even condone sexual abuse”.31 In November 2019, the Islamic Republic of Iran rejected States’ UPR recommendations asking for the criminalisation of domestic violence and marital rape.32 Iran’s Civil Code forbids a woman from leaving the matrimonial home without the husband’s permission unless she is able and willing to go to court to prove that she is endangered.33 The Civil Code specifies that a woman who decides to leave the marital home will not receive alimony from her husband, which may well function as a deterrent for women to exercise their freedom of movement. According to Article 18 (3) of the Passport Law, a woman needs a written permission from her husband to obtain a passport.34 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 authorise the issuance of a passport for a woman. However, only a few exceptions have been made so far.35 Previously, a bill was introduced before the Iranian Parliament to amend the Passport Law, in the attempt to eliminate the absolute right of a husband over his spouse to travel outside of the country. However, this attempt failed as the bill did not go through the legislative process.36 In 2017, a draft law that sought to 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 prosecutor-general, was introduced before the Parliament. 37 Women in Iran are obliged to wear the Islamic hijab [headscarf] in public, including in the workplace regardless of their religion, cultural practice or belief.38 The mandatory dress code is commonly understood, by society, as being loose-fitting clothing and a headscarf worn by some Muslim women. Women who do not wear a hijab that conforms with the authorities’ 30 See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexualviolence-in-iran/ 31 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 32 Recommendations 26.253, 26.254, Universal Periodic Review, Iran, 2019, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/43/12/Add.1 33 Article 1117 of the Civil Code. 34 The Passport Law: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/96904 35 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 36 The latest status of the plan "Women leave the country without the permission of their husbands", www.tabnak.ir/003GUK 37 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 38 Article 638 of the IPC. 4