parliament and the Guardian Council.7 During its last Universal Periodic Review (November
2019) the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that the Act on Protection, Dignity
and Security of Women against Violence, currently under governmental review, will be “aimed
at criminalizing new forms of assault, harassment and violations of the rights of women and
adopting preventive and support measures to stop violence against women.”8 Reportedly, the bill
would also include the prohibition of forced and early marriage for girls under 18.9 However, the
bill has been under review since 201010 and despite being submitted to the Government by the
judiciary in September 201911, in January 2020, the U.N. Secretary General expressed concerns
about the slow progress of the bill. Additionally, the Secretary General noted that “critical
articles were reportedly removed from the initial proposal of the Executive, including provisions
protecting women from various forms of violence and criminalizing domestic violence.”12 13 The
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran also noted during its 2019 Universal Period Review
that bills already drafted and currently going through the adoption process dealt with the
prohibition of early marriage, although without specifying the age limitation. The Government
added that it was raising awareness on the issue of child marriage in local communities.14
Marital rape is not recognized as a crime at all in Iran. The legal definition for ‘coerced zina’15 is
restricted to forced vaginal and anal penetration by a penis -therefore excludes other forms of
penetration- and only when the perpetrator and the victim are unmarried -therefore explicitly
excludes marital rape.16 Beyond rape, no other form of sexual assault is specifically criminalized
under the Islamic Penal Code.17
As a result, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s legislative framework is insufficient to combat
domestic violence and marital rape.18 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”.19
7
Information from Impact Iran; see www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1397/11/17/1941311/
Universal Periodic Review, Iran, 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12
9
Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights and Minority Rights Group
International
September 2019, https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1203136/download ; Iran Newspaper, ‘Hamsari ke zendegi
nemikonad amma mamnou’ol khorouj mikonad [A spouse who doesn’t live but bans me from leaving the country],’
4 October 2015, https://bit.ly/2youDGX
10
Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights and Minority Rights Group
International, September 2019
11
Report of the Secretary General, Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2020
12
Report of the Secretary General, Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2020
13
See https://en.radiofarda.com/a/new-watered-down-draft-law-on-violence-against-women-iniran/30173089.html;
and www.isna.ir/news/98071612729/ (in Farsi).
14
Universal Periodic Review, Iran, 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12
15
Zina is referring to illicit sexual activities.
16
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020
17
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020
18
See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020
19
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2017
8
2