Gender Equality and Empowerment in Iran: A Comparison between Ahmadinejad's and Rouhani's Governments

35 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 43, No.2, Spring 2019 Gender Equality and Empowerment in Iran: A Comparison between Ahmadinejad’s and Rouhani’s Governments Jalil Roshandel1 , Fatemeh Sadeghi2 , ShimaTadrisi3 Introduction In the past century, gender inequality has been one of the most important debates in all societies.4 Though roles of women and men are different in various cultures, there is no society in which women are more powerful than men. In most countries child rearing and household chores are considered women’s responsibility while men are engaged in activities that have more power and prestige.5 Women in societies in which power and decision making in social, economic, political and cultural aspects have been assigned to men, are exploited in such a way that they do not receive equal wages for their work; in addition, they do not have access to equal job opportunities.6 Statistics show that in Muslim countries, where Sharia Law is dominant, there is more gender discrimination.7 1 Jalil Roshandel, PhD - Professor Emeritus, Political Science – East Carolina University. 2 Fatemeh Sadeghi, PhD - O’Brien Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Law, McGill University (Former Assistant Professor of Political Thought and Gender Studies, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Azad Islamic University, Karaj-Iran) 3 Shima Tadrisi - MA in Social Studies, and women’s movement activist, Tehran - Iran. 4 Hemmati, Reza and Maktoubian, Maryam (2013), “Gender Inequality in Selected Middle Eastern Countries with the Emphasis on Iran”, Pajouhesh Nameh Zanan, 4 (2), pp. 115-124. 5 Giddens, Anthony (1995), Sociology, translated by Manouchehr Sabouri, Tehran: Nashre -Ney.P. 187. 6 Saifullahi, Saifullah, The Foundations of Sociology, (Tittle translated), Gonabad, 1995, Marandiz Publication. 7 Gouda, Moamen & NiklasPotrafke (2016), “Gender equality in Muslim-majority countries”, Economic Systems, 40(4), pp. 683-98. 36 According to 2017 World Economic Forum Report, Iran’s gender gap is ranked 140th with a score of 0.583, among 144 countries. In addition to Iran, Chad, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen have been placed at the bottom of the list with the largest gender gap. The report demonstrates that it will take a significant time to make progress and reach some levels of gender equality in Iran. Furthermore, this report puts demands on policy makers and other stakeholders to accelerate gender parity development, which, clearly, would be impossible without government’s engagement. Iran’s constitution contains language outlining rights and political freedom for everyone, regardless of gender, age and race. Moreover, almost all countries in the world including Iran have signed human rights agreements pledging not to discriminate. However, these promises, and agreements are not adequately implemented where law enforcement is weak. In parts of the world where there is no enforcement of these laws and agreements, there is also no movement towards achieving gender equality. Gender equality gives more stability and cohesion to society and it improves both social and economic conditions. These are significant reasons for considering governmental intervention to boost gender equality. 8 Research question This research uses the United Nations women’s empowerment principles as guideline as well as domestic and international statistics to investigate the performance of Ahmadinejad’s government (2005-2013) and Rouhani’s government (2013-today) with respect to gender equality issues. The focus is to correlate this performance to governments’ ideology (conservative vs. moderate). Iran’s controversial presidential election was held in 2009 and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected as Iran’s president (the 10th government). This resulted in the takeover of the hardliners in Iran with their clear agenda to domesticate women. Their political agenda was to contain women’s role within their families only, and assumed women’s social participation could be acceptable if it was connected to their main responsibility as primary caregivers in the family.9 In a symbolic action at the beginning of his presidency, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, changed the name of the “Center of Women’s Participation” to the “Center of Women and Family”.10 It was not only a term substitution but also an essential shift in governmental policy making in the realm of women’s issues. 8 World Bank. (2001). Engendering Development. Publication: Oxford University. 9 Karami, Mohamad Taghi (2012), “Gender Analysis of Three Development...

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